More than one in five of the 500 pending ODZ applications are aimed at either sanctioning illegal developments or approving new large ones, an exercise by Times of Malta has found.
A review of the 522 applications being assessed by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority shows that while 85 are to regularise works previously carried out without a permit, another 60 are for new construction projects on land outside development zones.
The new projects include 11 apartment blocks and multi-maisonette developments, most of which come with underground garage complexes and pools.
Read more in Times of Malta.