€11,000 of littering fines in one month

The pending caseload at the planning authority stood at 4,833 by the end of last month when 554 new applications were filed and 328 were decided.

During the same month, inspectors issued 31 contraventions and fined people a total of €11,006 for breaching the Littering Act, primarily by illegally depositing refuse near public skips.

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority also issued 12 contraventions and fined developers a total of €2,795 for breaching construction site management regulations. Contraventions related to the lack of hoarding and screening around building sites and not affixing notice boards on site.

In May, the authority processed 73 notifications of development, while 83 stop and enforcement notices were issued - 63 in Malta and 20 in Gozo.

Mepa's enforcement section closed 110 cases, 87 in Malta and 23 in Gozo. Some 30 enforcement cases were sanctioned by a planning permit while another 75 were resolved by the owners' decision to remove their illegal development and comply with the enforcement notice, Mepa said.