AD objects to eight storey Mellieha hotel

The addition of three new floors to the Panorama hotel set on the Mellieha ridge will completely ruin the skyline, Alternattiva Demokratika has warned.

AD candidate for the Mellieha council, Luke Caruana, said the project would set a dangerous precedent for developers to increase extra floors in the surrounding area.

Caruana listed his concerns in an objection filed with the Planning Authority over an application to add two floors and a penthouse level to the hotel.

The application was filed recently by former Eurovision singer Christabelle Borg on behalf of V&C Developments Limited, a family company.

The hotel is currently five floors high and sits on the ridge.

Caruana said the area of the proposed development is very close to the parish square.

“The area is already intensively developed and the streets in the vicinity cannot take any more traffic. Residents will also be denied access to sunlight,”Caruana said.

The AD candidate said the case involving the Panorama Hotel was emblematic of the problems brought about by government policies that “favour the few over the interests of the quality of life of the many”.

The hotel, which dates back to the late 1960s, had a penthouse level approved in 2010 on condition that it would be removed if the hotel ceased operations.

The application will be assessed according to the policy on hotel heights, which allows developers to add two additional floors over and above the height limitation found in the local plan.

The local plan limits development in the area to a ground floor and three overlying floors or 17.5 metres.

The policy does not apply to hotels located on ridge edges. Developments granted according to this policy must also respect the urban context where these are located.

The assessment of this application will have to determine whether the site qualifies as a ridge and whether the development will respect its context.