A 30-room boutique hotel and luxury spa is to be developed at the former military barracks outside Mosta where a controversial shooting range had originally been planned.

Talks between the government and the developers, the Busbesija Group, are in an advanced stage and the two sides are expected to sign the contract within the next few weeks. The group is owned by GP Borg Construction, one of Malta’s leading building firms. Its spa idea was ranked in second place after a call was made for proposals on how to make use of the derelict Busbesija barracks.

A spokesman for the group confirmed they planned to develop the ODZ site into a small boutique hotel with agritourism facilities. “We prefer calling this project a retreat house instead of a hotel as it will be a new concept for Malta,” the spokesman said. “We have proposed a state-ofthe-art facility which will totally respect the environment. There will be no need to undertake any new construction as we will be using the current barracks and turning them into a 30-room luxury accommodation with a spa and restaurant. Our project perfectly fits the site plan issued by the government in the tender.”

Asked whether the development will need new roads and access, the spokesman said this should not be the case.