Industry takes ownership of policy on hotel heights

A working group appointed by the government to draft a new policy that will regulate the height of hotels will include six representatives from tourism and business lobbies, and two MEPA officials.

The government-appointed working committee for MEPA's policy on hotel heights includes six representatives of organisations involved in the tourism sector, namely the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, the Chamber of Commerce and the Malta Tourism Authority.

MEPA published the lists of the seven working committees drafting new MEPA policies, following a request sent by MaltaToday.

The list reveals that with the exception of the working group drafting a policy on fireworks, which is chaired by Labour MP Michael Falzon - the spokesperson for the Malta Pyrotechnics Association - all the policy committees will be chaired by MEPA officials.

On the other hand, the committee revising the policy on hotels is the only one where the majority of members hail from the industry they actually seek to regulate.

The committee will be tweaking a policy already approved by the present government in May, which allowed two additional floors on hotels located in tourism areas.

It will be chaired by MEPA planning directorate official and architect Silvio Farrugia and includes fellow MEPA official Christopher Galea.

The other members of the board are architect David Xuereb, representing the Chamber of Commerce, MHRA representatives Andrew Agius Muscat and Paul Bugeja, and MTA senior managers Kevin Fsadni and Anna Lanczet, who already liaison with MEPA on pending hotel applications.

Notably absent from the board are representatives of local councils, the Chamber of Architects and environmental NGOs.

The new policy on hotel heights is being drafted barely three months after the approval of a policy that allowed hotels in tourist areas to add two new floors.

A spokesperson for MEPA had previously described the policy approved in May as an "interim" measure.

"The policy that was issued was one that was prepared by the previous administration. Since this policy did not conflict with the vision of the government, it was published as an interim measure until the new policy is issued."

But the policy approved in May by the newly elected Labour government already included significant changes. In fact, the new government acceded to the demands made by the Gozo Tourism Association in extending the new height rules - previously applicable only in Marsalforn, Xlendi and Mgarr - to the entirety of Gozo.

In Malta the policy remained applicable solely to Mellieha, St Paul's Bay, St Julian's, Sliema, Marsascala, Marsaxlokk and Birzebbugia.

More committees, new policies

Another working committee is also drafting new rules on the application of the Floor Area Ratio, the formula which allows smaller footprints to be offset by higher building heights.

MEPA's director of planning Christopher Borg chairs the board responsible for this policy revision.

The board also includes architects Jacques Borg Barthet, of private firm Architecture Project, Antoine Zammit, who worked as an architect on the Manoel Island and Tigné developments, and Portomaso architect Ray Demicoli.

The committee revising the policy on fuel stations is chaired by MEPA's Frans Mallia, who is responsible for the Forward Planning Unit, and includes representatives of Transport Malta and the energy ministry. No representatives from the private sector are included in this board.

The committee devising the new policy on fireworks factories chaired by Labour MP and pyrotechnics association lawyer Michael Falzon is composed of four MEPA officials, two Armed Forces officials, a police inspector and an official from the Civil Protection Department.

The working committee appointed to change the policy on farm diversification and stables, which is expected to include a policy on agritourism, is chaired by Environment and Planning Commission member Elisabeth Ellul and includes three other MEPA officials. It also includes two representatives from the Parliamentary Secretariat for Agriculture, and a Malta Tourism Authority representative.

The working group in charge of revising the policy on classes of different commercial and retail categories is chaired by Joseph Gauci, an official hailing from MEPA's Forward Planning Unit.