Demolition of Buskett Forest Hotel set to sail through after decade of resistance

The Planning Authority is poised to approve the demolition of the long-abandoned Buskett Forest Hotel and its replacement with a large old people’s home, ending almost a decade of planning battles, repeated redesigns and sustained opposition from environmental and heritage authorities.

A final case officer’s report recommends that the controversial application be approved, concluding that the latest version of the project complies with planning policy and no longer poses an unacceptable environmental impact, despite continued objections from the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage.

The proposed development by businessman Peter Borg, assisted by former Labour minister Charles Buhagiar as architect, will replace the derelict hotel with a three-storey elderly care home containing 54 rooms for around 100 residents, together with underground parking, landscaped gardens and ancillary facilities.

The project is located immediately adjacent to the protected Buskett and Girgenti Natura 2000 site, one of Malta’s most environmentally sensitive areas.

The application, originally filed in 2016, has undergone numerous revisions after attracting strong opposition from environmental organisations, including Din l-Art Ħelwa, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar and Nature Trust Malta, all of which argued that such a large development would irreversibly alter the rural landscape surrounding Buskett.

The project’s most significant hurdle had been the position adopted by the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA).

For several years, ERA repeatedly refused to support the proposal, insisting that the scale and massing remained incompatible with the sensitive surroundings, even after successive reductions. It also required extensive environmental studies, including an Appropriate Assessment and, initially, an Environmental Impact Assessment.

However, as often happens, the toothless ERA reversed its position and ultimately concluded that the development is not expected to significantly affect the integrity of the adjacent Natura 2000 site, provided strict conditions are imposed.

While ERA has now withdrawn its objections, the same cannot be said for the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage.

Throughout the processing of the application, the Superintendence consistently maintained that the project remains ‘unacceptably massive in scale, extent and volumes’ and would have a negative and unacceptable impact on the cultural landscape and the surrounding rural environment. Even after the latest revisions, it refused to endorse the proposal.

Nevertheless, the PA’s case officer dismissed those concerns, arguing that the replacement building broadly retains the footprint and height of the existing abandoned hotel and incorporates setbacks, terraces and landscaping intended to reduce its visual impact.

Recommending approval, the case officer noted that the proposal will not extend onto agricultural land, will remain within the development parameters established by an earlier outline permit, and has received clearances from the Older Persons Standards Authority and Transport Malta.