Jeffrey V. Fallis 
Sunroute Hotels has withdrawn its planning application for a hotel on the site of the decommissioned Pulvich explosives factory in Dingli Cliffs.
The Planning Authority (PA) originally recommended the application be approved, and the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) changed its initial objection to the development to a more favorable objection after a scaled down version has been proposed.
The development was located outside the Malta Development Zone and would have taken place in an Ecologically Significant Area and a Natura 2000 site within an area of high landscape value.
More than 500 people had opposed the plans, along with the local Dingli Council and the Cultural Heritage Superintendency. The Superintendency has instead called for rehabilitation of the site, while an internal PA advisory committee on agricultural issues has opposed development.
Dingli Council insisted that once the plant is no longer needed, the land must be returned to nature and restored to its original state.
More recently, the Planning Board had indicated that it would deny the request. The candidates withdrew their candidacies before the final vote could take place.
“We will remain vigilant in order to oppose this request again if ever it is submitted again,” said the NGO Moviment Graffitti.
