The planning authority yesterday started demolishing a two-storey building that was being built illegally at the Mosta FC football ground.

In view of the blatant disregard of instructions...Mepa today started to demolish the roof

The work was stopped after a few hours, however, when the courts issued a provisional injunction.

Mepa said the demolition was being carried out after the developer defied several enforcement notices.

It said that when it was evident that the concrete roofing was being planned for, Enforcement Officers stopped the work and ordered the workers off the site, together with their crane and vehicles.

Three days after the architect was told to stop works, since no development permit application had ever been submitted, enforcement officers found workers on site preparing reinforcement mesh for the roof, the authority said.

Works were again stopped, and the architect was again advised that the concrete was not to be laid.

However, early on Saturday morning the developer and architect went ahead with their planned work and roofed the two-storey building with concrete.

“In view of this blatant disregard of enforcement instructions and the Enforcement Order, Mepa today started to demolish the roof of this building.  Works proceeded until noon, when Mepa was stopped by a prohibitory injunction provisionally issued by the courts,” the Authority said.

“Following the Mepa Reform, sanctioning of this large two-storey structure in an ODZ area is now not possible. The developer will have to demolish the entire building for the Authority to even consider accepting the submission of a planning application for any development on this site,” Mepa said.

In a reaction, the Malta Football Association said that together with Mosta FC it was improving the sport facilities in the area. This was by no means a profit-making venture, the MFA added.

Football clubs cannot administer a pitch unless they have the necessary facilities on hand, it noted.

“The MFA believes that the reference to Outside Development Zone should not apply to such cases,” the association’s CEO Bjorn Vassallo added.

The MFA appealed to the authorities to follow the example of other countries and look upon the development of sport as a social benefit. Such a social aspect ought to be given special attention and not be treated as a residential or commercial development.