Mepa's pending caseload nearly 5,000

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority determined 596 applications in June and received 617 new applications, bringing the net pending caseload at the end of the month to 4,979.

During June, the authority processed 82 notifications of development which do not require a formal application; 43 stop and enforcement notices were issued, 36 in Malta and seven in Gozo; 67 enforcement cases were closed, 61 in Malta and six in Gozo; 44 enforcement cases were sanctioned by the issue of a sanctionable permit while another 23 cases were resolved since owners decided to remove illegal development and comply with the enforcement notice.

Thirty-eight cases received at the complaints office were resolved without the need of enforcement action, since owners complied with instructions given by Mepa's enforcement officers.

Seven direct action operations entailed the removal of scrap and heavy plant machinery in Mgarr, Malta; the removal of scrap material and an illegal room in Burmarrad; the removal of an illegal extension to a boundary wall in Zebbug, Malta; the removal of an illegal extension to a boundary wall in Burmarrad and the sealing off of a pizzeria without a permit in Gharb.