A parliamentary committee on Tuesday afternoon made progress in a debate on a motion to grant space at Gzira seafront for a lido to be shared by four hotels.

The National Audit Office Accounts Committee started debating the motion last week, when the parliamentary secretary for planning, Chris Agius, had explained how the four hotels - the Bay View Hotel, the Kennedy Nova Hotel, The Strand Hotel, and the Waterfront Hotel - had already been granted development permission for the project, which was intended to compensate for a lack of pool facilities and would give added touristic value to the area.

Opposition MP Mario de Marco had called the project a “positive” one, but expressed concerns that the contract was too generic and did not sufficiently restrict the use of the land to touristic purposes, for which the development permit had been granted. Furthermore, the concession was being awarded to a consortium, of which ownership was not restricted to the four hotels in question.

Committee chairperson Edward Zammit Lewis said on Tuesday that agreement had been reached on a number of amendments following a wide-ranging discussion between members of the committee.

MPs from both sides of the committee agreed that the concession should be tied to hospitality and tourism-related use.

They also agreed that any explicit reference to particular planning applications should be excluded, to avoid excessively restricting the 65-year lease.

However, it was added that the concession could only be used “for the sole and exclusive use of hotels.

The debate is due to be concluded on Wednesday.