Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1235679
14 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 15 APRIL 2020 COMMERCIAL A number of structures which were built without planning per- mission, some dating as far back as the early 1980s, have over the past weeks been removed after the Planning Authority's com- pliance & enforcement officers warned contravenors of immi- nent direct action. A rural structure measuring over 120m² and built in the ear- ly 1980s, in close proximity to the Ħagar Qim Temples, limits of Qrendi, was finally demol- ished and the site returned back to its original state. The structure which had been built without planning permis- sion, in this pristine area along Triq il-Kbir, had been served with an enforcement notice in 1999. On agricultural land in a site off Triq tal-Għarix, limits of Qrendi, a number of oth- er rooms which recently were constructed without planning permission were demolished and the site was reinstated to its previous use. In Xlendi, Gozo, a canopy structure constructed without planning permission outside a restaurant across the water- front was removed after a plan- ning application to sanction the illegality and an appeal against the enforcement notice were withdrawn. A daily fine was imposed fol- lowing the issuing of the en- forcement notice. The canopy included illegal signage and the placing of tables and chairs which were also removed. A number of disused cars and other heavy machinery and vehicles which were left aban- doned in a site within Wied il-Ghasel, limits of Mosta, were removed. The site is part of an area, with more than 1.5km in length, where the Planning Authority had given planning permission for a rehabilitation and upgrad- ing project to be carried out in 2017. The area starts off from Wied Għajn Riħana near the Victoria Lines, between Mosta and Bid- nija, and extends to the prox- imity of the Grade 1 Sched- uled Chapel, dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, right down in the valley beyond the quarries. Last year, to tackle the pend- ing caseload of enforcement no- tices, the Authority embarked on a strategic approach regard- ing the old cases. This yielded the desired re- sults since the number of pend- ing enforcement notices was re- duced by 61% when compared to the reduction in the number of cases of the previous year. In the coming weeks, the Compliance & Enforcement Di- rectorate will keep working vig- ilantly not only to monitor that all ongoing development works are being carried out according to approved drawing and con- ditions of permission but will continue to address old cases where illegal development was carried out and is still not regu- larised or removed. Planning Authority removes structures built without planning permission Images show areas after direct action in Mosta (top), Qrendi (second and third rows) and Xlendi (bottom row)