Beach concession reappears in 12-storey hotel proposal at Bugibba

Plans for a 12-storey hotel proposed instead of the Seaview hotel in St Paul’s Bay still envisage a beach concession including 52 deckchairs set on 26 separate concrete platforms on the coastline.

PA has already issued a permit for the demolition of the three-storey Seaview Hotel along the Bugibba coast, opposite the waterpark.

The application originally made reference to the proposed beach concession but this was deleted from the description of the proposal in a letter submitted in April.

ERA had objected to this insisting that “the laying of sunbeds on the coastal area is unacceptable in principle from an environmental point of view.”   

On 25 May ERA informed the Planning Authority that it no longer had any environmental concerns after the application had been amended and the laying of sunbeds on the beach has been eliminated from the proposal.

However, on 8 June, architect Charles Buhagiar presented new plans which still foresee beach concession plans which were resubmitted to the authority.

In its report ERA also warned that the project “might” have a visual impact on long distant views and vistas due to its height.

But the latest design for the hotel has been endorsed by the PA’s Design Advisory Committee which declared that it not averse to the proposal.

If approved the hotel will become the highest in the area, surpassing the 10-storey high San Antonio Hotel. Qawra is one of five locations where buildings over 10 storeys high can be constructed.

A recently approved policy also exempts hotels from heights set in local plans, allowing two extra storeys over the number allowed by the local plan on any existing hotel and an unlimited number of floors for stand-alone hotels.