Sliema residents appeal Stivala’s 11-storey hotel permit

An appeal has been filed against the approval of an 11-storey hotel in a residential area in Parisio Street, Sliema, proposed by Malta Developers Association president and hotelier Michael Stivala.

The appeal was filed by lawyer Claire Bonello and architect Tara Cassar on behalf of Moviment Graffitti, independent candidate Arnold Cassola, and 10 residents.

As proposed back in January, the property will replace an old, derelict farmhouse standing between lower and upper Parisio street at the intersection with Triq Moroni.

The hotel was approved in a part of Sliema that is zoned as a ‘residential area’ in the local plan, where hotels are not allowed.

But the Planning Authority’s case officer invoked a policy on ‘consolidation and regeneration initiatives’ – considering similar commitments just a short distance away on the Gżira seafront – that gives the PA flexibility in assessing tourism development if it is compatible with the surrounding neighbourhood.

The generic policy only applies when the proposed building height does not exceed the one found in the local plans, and when the development proposed does not “diametrically” contrast with the “thrust of local plan policies”.

But the appellants cite a local plan policy which clearly states that only hostels and not hotels can be allowed in residential areas. The policy is aimed at ensuring that “these areas remain an attractive place to live in and predominantly residential in use.”

Moreover, the local plan includes a specific policy cited in the appeal which limits the development of new hotels in Sliema to the “secondary town centre” in Tigné, the ex-Union Club site and the Fort Cambridge area. The policy states that hotel development in these areas should not spill over in to neighbouring residential areas.

The appeal also cites the Planning Authority’s public commitment during a public consultation on the local plan the Planning Authority held 23 years ago during which Sliema residents were told that “the construction of new hotels will be limited to specific areas within the Tigne peninsula”.

The appellant also shot down the invocation of the flexibility policy by the Planning Directorate since this proposal contradicts the thrust of the local plan limiting new hotels in Sliema to Tigné.