Hotels insist that their Gzira establishment does not require authorization from land authority for the installation of deckchairs on the roof

A hotel consortium led by Michael Stivala insists that he does not need the authorization of land authority to place deckchairs on the roof of his Lido in Gzira.

The Lido was built on public land transferred to a group of hotels by the sea in Gzira as part of a 65 -year -old lease. The public act prohibits the erection of any structure at the level of the roof. In a legal letter, the consortium argues that the act only prohibits the construction of permanent structures on the roof and not temporary deckchairs.

In 2023, Stivala requested the regularization of deckchairs installed without a building permit. A file manager recommended the approval of the sanction request, but the planning commission asked Stivala to request the consent of the land authority before giving its seal of approval.

A clause of the public act stipulates that “no roof structure or no service should be placed on the roof”.

However, Sliema Creek Limited, a consortium including the four hotels of the seafront who jointly have the Lido – of which St Hotels Limited de Stivala – presented a legal opinion from the lawyer Chris Cilia. The opinion claims that the placement of deckchairs on the roof does not violate the act because “deckchairs and parasols are temporary by nature and cannot be considered as structures”.

The lawyer maintains that, according to town planning legislation, a structure must have a fixed location on the ground.

“This is obviously not the case with parasols and deckchairs, because they can be set up and removed regularly very easily – and this is the case – and therefore

Do not constitute structures, “said the lawyer.

In addition, Cilia claims that as temporary tenants, the owners of the Lido are not “required to obtain an authorization from the land authority for any development which they would like to carry out on the site” and that the authority of Planning “is completely foreign to the project”. to all considerations emanating from the act of emphyteosis between them and land authority.

The planning authority has now asked its own lawyers to provide legal advice before making the processing, postponing its decision to February 12.

The request site consists of a 2,500 m² Lido on land won over the sea and rented to the consortium made up of the Bayview, Kennedy Nova, 115 The Strandfront hotels. The parliamentary resolution approving the rental contract was adopted in 2018. The land was transferred to the consortium for 65 years, with an obligation to pay a land rent of € 50,000 for the first three years and € 150,000 during the nine years next. The rent is to be revised after the expiration of this 12 -year period.

The consortium is led by the president of the Malta Development Association, Michael Stivala.

The initial development permit has been issued by the Palestinian authority on the condition that the Lido roof is not embarrassed by new structures. Nevertheless, the person responsible for the planning authority file recommended approval provided that all outdoor furniture is free from advertising and that parasols “are maintained closed when they are not used”.

The manager of the file cited “the new operational needs of the four hotels” and the “holistic conception and visual permeability” of the proposal to justify the regularization.

The Stivala justification report, written by the architect Edwin Mintoff, says that the illegal roof terrace now makes the area accessible to a larger number of guests and offers the possibility “to a larger part of pedestrians and Potential users of the space to take advantage of the amenities provided by the project ”. . ”

The report also indicates that using the roof for deckchairs optimizes soil use. “Hotels in the region invest millions in reinvestment and modernization” and “use the limited land in question in its full potential to avoid having to develop new facilities”.