A planning application to transform the Hotel Fortina and Fortina Spa Resort into luxury apartments and a 23-storey tower was submitted with a confidentiality proviso usually reserved for national security issues, the Partit Demokratiku said this morning.

The application, which was submitted to the Planning Authority on June 6 and has a validation date of September 27, is expected to be processed by the New Year.

It seeks to demolish the four-star hotel and spa wing of the five-star resort, build three floors of underground parking, a ground floor shopping mall, 15-floor apartment block, add five floors to the existing five-star resort and build a new 23-storey tower hotel block in place of the spa wing.

The application was filed by architect Edwin Mintoff on behalf of Fortel Company Ltds's Edward Zammit Tabona.

Ground rent concerns

In a statement issued this morning, the PD said the public land on which the existing hotels sat had been granted on a soft ground rent intended for the hotel industry.

The plans, the party argued, were a clear case of change of use from that stipulated in the original contract, and would "necessitate a rethink of the ground rent, which is an insignificant cost in light of the huge amount of money set to be made."

PD also expressed surprise that the planning application included a proviso of ticle 32 (2) requesting confidentiality in the planning process. This, the party said, was usually reserved for buildings such as banks and airports.

The party said that people who owned timeshare slots in the existing buildings to be demolished had been left out of the loop and risked finding their investments invalidated if the plans went through.

It said the plans necessitated environmental and social impact assessments and called on the Planning Authority, environmental regulator and Lands Authority to work "independently and autonomously from commercial interests which are too close to the government."