New db restaurants in St George’s Bay slapped with enforcement order

Two newly inaugurated restaurants at db Group’s controversial City Centre development in St George’s Bay have been hit with a Planning Authority enforcement notice shortly after opening their doors to customers without the certifications required by their development permit.

The enforcement action comes just days after the official launch of the first outlets within the multi-million-euro project, with the developer and operators promoting the arrival of internationally branded Hard Rock Cafe and Tatel restaurants through a high-profile publicity campaign.

According to the enforcement notice issued by the Planning Authority against DB San Gorg Property Ltd, the site ‘has been brought into use without the submission of the required certifications, clearances and declarations’ required under the development permit.

The authority said the certifications, clearances and declarations imposed through permit PA/3807/17 had not been submitted before the restaurants were opened to the public.

The enforcement notice also raises concerns over the development itself.

According to the Planning Authority, ‘structural variations and additions were carried out on site, not in accordance with permit PA/3807/17 dated 27 July 2023.’

The notice means the developer now faces enforcement proceedings over both the premature opening of the establishments and the alleged unauthorised alterations identified during the authority’s inspections. So far, no daily fines have been imposed.

Questions sent by The Shift on the latest developments remained unanswered by the db Group.

The two restaurants are the first businesses to begin operating within db Group’s long-awaited City Centre project, one of the largest and most controversial private developments in Malta.

While customers are already being served at the restaurants, much of the rest of the massive complex remains under construction.

The neighbouring shopping mall, being developed by businessman Paul Gauci, owner of PAMA and PAVI shopping villages, has just started operating, later than its scheduled opening.

The development’s hotel, another flagship component of the project, also remains closed but is expected to open within the coming weeks.

Construction activity continues across other sections of the mixed-use development.

The City Centre project has remained the subject of sustained public controversy over the past years.

Built on the former Institute of Tourism Studies site at St George’s Bay, the development includes hotels, residential towers, retail outlets, restaurants and entertainment facilities.

It has long attracted criticism over its scale, the transfer of public land to the developer, and its impact on the surrounding area.

It has also been the subject of a series of planning disputes.

Most recently, residents, local councils and environmental organisations appealed the Planning Authority’s decision to allow the project’s residential towers to be increased by a further seven storeys, arguing that the higher buildings would worsen traffic, increase overshadowing and further intensify an already massive development.

That appeal remains pending before the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal.

The same bay is also the subject of other major developments in the pipeline, including the controversial redevelopment of the Villa Rosa gardens into a massive high-rise project that critics argue is completely disproportionate to the area.

To pave the way for the project being proposed by Anthony Camilleri, better known as Tal-Franciz and one of Malta’s most influential developers, the Labour government has proposed changes to the local plan governing the area’s permitted development, allowing for substantially larger buildings than are currently permitted.

It is a known secret that many large developers are financial donors to the two main political parties elected in parliament.