[SLIDESHOW] How 113-room hotel will change picturesque Marsaxlokk skyline and views

The development of a 113-room hotel in Marsaxlokk instead of the Hunters Tower restaurant will block off the view of the sea from Triq il-Power Station and the view of the adjacent terraced fields from Qrejten point and Xatt is-Sajjieda.

The development does not impinge on land outside the footprint of the existing restaurant and its outdoor area but will be massive when compared to the existing building.

An Environmental Impact Assessment describes the visual impact of the project as a change which “would negatively affect the landscape characteristics and character of the area”.

The hotel’s modern architecture will “also dominate the area and represent a notable change from the more traditional landscape that is characteristic of the area”, the EIA warns.

An EIA report describes the visual impact of the project as a change which “would negatively affect the landscape characteristics and character of the area

But the EIA also warns that if the project is not approved the eco-touristic potential of the Marsaxlokk Bay area, will remain unexploited.

The EIA warns of possible negative impacts on the il-Ballut protected area during construction, but concludes that these can be avoided through sustainable construction practices, such as hoarding and stone wetting that will help to reduce the quantity of dust generated from the scheme site.

According to the EIA the downsizing of the hotel and a proposed underground carpark could reduce the generation of dust, waste, and noise that could adversely affect the marshland.

“However this would imply that the proposed underground carpark would have to be abolished. This may have repercussions on the existing carpark spaces at Marsaxlokk and the economic business model of the project”.

This site has served as a restaurant since the 1970s. The restaurant has an indoor and an outdoor area.

The Marsaxlokk Inner Harbour Area development brief which was issued for public consultation in December 2014 says that the Planning Authority would “favourably” consider tourism-related uses, including “tourism accommodation” in the Hunters Tower area, but insists proposals, should not exceed the current two-storey height limitation.

Back in 1998, an application by former Labour MP John Dalli to demolish the Hunters Tower restaurant and construct a 93-room, three-storey hotel was refused. The present application was presented by D&B Catering Limited, a company owned by Jon-Jon Dalli.