Redeveloping a derelict hotel at Kalanka Bay to include a larger building, pools and a tunnel leading to a nearby beach would damage nearby geological features and irreversibly change the area's landscape, Partit Demokratiku has warned. 

In a statement urging the Planning Authority to reject a planning application to redevelop the site in southern Malta, the PD noted that the area lies in an outside development zone and in an area of ecological and scientific importance "which the Planning Authority is duty-bound to protect." 

Developing the site would require new infrastructure, including access to roads and other services needed as it was being built and once it was up and running, the party argued. 

OPINION: A hotel, by fair means or fowl

Kenneth Abela, who wants to turn the site into a boutique hotel, has pledged to use 20 tumoli of land adjacent to it which he also owns for organic farming and evict hunters and trappers using the area. 

Environmentalists say the claims do not wash, and point to the proposed planning application as evidence of what they say is Mr Abela's attempts at greenwashing. 

Mr Abela's plans include luxury suites, a bar and restaurant and excavations to build a tunnel and provide public beach facilities. 

A report by environmental consultants ADI found that the proposed hotel would have a major impact on the surrounding landscape's character and introduced commercial activity to the area, which is scheduled as an Area of High Landscape Value and an Area of Ecological Importance. 

“This is my land. If I can’t build the eco boutique hotel to be enjoyed by locals and tourists, then my alternative is simple: I’ll build my villa, but I’d be the only one enjoying it then. This is not Corinthia or the Hilton, where public land was given for tourism,” Mr Abela had told the Times of Malta last year.

PD opposes plans

In its statement, PD argued for "a balance between sustainable development and our natural environment" and said that it was vital that some bays were returned to their natural state. 

It argued that the proposed development went against a Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development as well as the PA's Rural Policy, and called on the PA to "protect Kalanka from over development as it has done in the case of Ħondoq ir-Rummien."