PA Board refuses proposed Pietà hotel application

The Planning Board has turned down a planning application for the proposed development of a four-star hotel along the Pieta Seafront.

The Board noted that the proposed development will negatively impact the sensitive historical buildings in the vicinity of the site most prominently the scheduled Villa Frere and its gardens and St. Luke’s Hospital.

The Board also noted that the scale, volume and massing of the hotel building will dominate the environs and compromise the historical residential townscape of Pieta.   

The hotel was proposed to be built instead of a cluster of houses located along Triq ix-Xatt in Pieta, facing the historic bastions of Floriana.

One of the houses is scheduled as a Grade 2 building, while one of the other houses leads onto Giardino Zammitello which is a large historical garden and is part of the proposed site.

Following consultation with various entities, the application got revised to include the restoration and preservation of Giardino Zammitello, which garden is divided into two sections; the ‘Giardino Chiuso’ and the larger garden area.

The proposed development was to include 149 bedrooms, ancillary areas, an underground multi-level car park, offices, a restaurant, a business centre, a spa and gym and an outdoor pool.