Heritage group Din L-Art Ħelwa has welcomed a Court of Appeal decision to revoke the permit for a 5-star hotel to be built instead of the Tattingers discotheque in Rabat on the outskirts of Mdina, it was not in line with the local plan for the locality.

The former discotheque was set to be demolished and replaced by a 5-storey hotel, despite strong objections from NGOs, residents and Mdina council.

The Environment Resources Authority and the Superintendence of Culture Heritage had also expressed concerns when the application was being discussed, even though the developers had reduced the number of rooms from 110 to 81.

There were objections regarding the visual impact on Mdina, while Din l-Art Ħelwa had argued through architect Tara Cassar that the Tattingers had a 60 to 70 square metre basement, while the hotel would have required the excavation of some 1,000 square metres.

Nevertheless, the Planning Authority had approved the permit in 2021, saying that archaeological and geological studies would have to be carried out before any excavation works on site.

The case was referred to the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal, which had agreed that the permit should be revoked and sent back to the Planning Authority since the application should not have been issued before the studies were carried out ­– rather than being made conditional on their outcome.

However, Din l-Art Ħelwa, the Archaeological Society of Malta and Moviment Graffitti resorted to the Court of Appeal, arguing that the area’s local plan allowed extensions to operating hotels under certain conditions, but new hotels were not envisaged.

The Court of Appeal agreed that since the local plan did not allow new hotels, the law must be upheld and the permit was revoked.

Din l-Art Ħelwa welcomed the decision, saying that implications went well beyond the development of Tattingers, as the Court of Appeal had recognised the overriding importance of the local plans, which could now be used as a strong argument for several other cases.