Tuna magnate withdraws Birzebbuga nine-storey hotel plan

An application by tuna magnate Charles Azzopardi to add two extra storeys on top of a seven-storey hotel approved in 2020, has been withdrawn.

A case officer had already recommended the refusal of this application, and a final decision on the development was expected on 11 February. 

The seven-storey development, replacing the existing four-storey high Sea Breeze Hotel in Birżebbuġa was approved in October 2020 despite objections by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage and a negative recommendation by the case officer.

Subsequently, Azzopardi applied to add another two storeys, as foreseen in the 2014 policy that allows two additional storeys on hotels over and above what is allowed by local plans.

But the case officer recommended refusalm, arguing that it is still in breach of policy.

This is because the Height Limitation Adjustment Policy For Hotels only allows two floors over and above the height limitation permitted in the local plan, provided that “the resultant design features a high quality product in keeping with the urban context and no blank walls are created.”

In this case the exposed blank party walls on Triq il-Bajja s-Sabiħa, which the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage objected to, will have a negative visual impact on the streetscape and urban context.

Moreover the proposed height, massing and blank party walls are also in breach of the SPED policies, which aim to ensure that all new developments improve amenity and the pleasantness of place.

The Birżebbuġa local council, represented by architect Carmel Cacopardo, had objected to the latest application alongside the SCH and nearly 650 objectors.

Back in 2020, the Superintendence had already expressed its concern on the increase in the hotel’s height, due to its prominent location immediately next to the locality’s urban conservation area. It said that the hotel would visually dominate and condition the surrounding streetscape around Pretty Bay.

Even the Planning Authority’s case officer recommended a refusal due to the creation of an unsightly blank party wall. But following changes to the façade in plans endorsed by the PA’s internal design panel, the PA’s planning commission approved the seven-storey hotel.

A photomontage of the development shows the hotel dominating the bay along with the eight-storey high Water’s Edge hotel owned by Charles Polidano, which was approved in 2007. In 2017 the PA refused an application by Polidano for an additional storey on his hotel.