New Suncrest Hotel Towers Over Qawra Coast While Awaiting Public Domain Declassification
Development seems to be going ahead at full swing at the Suncrest Hotel and lido as the area awaits the outcome of a controversial Planning Authority proposal to declassify its coastal public domain status.
AX Holdings is currently redeveloping the Suncrest Hotel in Qawra, with the aim of turning it into a “Dubai-style resort” that will place the northern town back on Malta’s tourism map.
The upgraded hotel will have 618 rooms, up from the current 450, and will feature lagoons, an adult-only rooftop pool, high-end restaurants, a cafeteria, shopping facilities, an underground car park, and more extensive pool facilities.
However, the project has proven controversial since the Planning Authority has proposed that 13,000 square metres of coastline in front of the lido be declassified from the Public Domain Act.
Essentially, this means that this part of the coastline will no longer be accessible to the general public, but only to Suncrest guests and staff.
Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) have slammed this declassification proposal, as well as a separate proposal to declassify parts of the seashore The Chalet in Sliema.
FAA warned that the PA’s justification – that declassification will “serve both private and public interest” – is so generic that it could apply to all kinds of projects and set a dangerous precedent.
It questioned why the government launched a public consultation on the declassification on 22nd December, three days before Christmas, suggesting it chose the date specifically to keep it under the radar.
When the Public Domain Law was unanimously voted into parliament in 2016 it was heralded with great fanfare as a victory for the public against encroaching private interests. However, so far there has not been much sign of its implementation.
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