The Malta Environment and Planning Authority’s enforcement section is a joke, as all it appears to do is refer the complainant to another government department while totally failing to deal with the reported infringement of permit conditions in accordance with the methodology published on their website, which is reproduced below.
Extract from the enforcement process on the Mepa website:
Infringements of planning control may be classified in:
1. Development taking place without development permission;
2. Development which has already taken in place and is not covered by a planning permission;
3. Development which although is covered by a permit, is not being carried out in accordance with the permit and any conditions imposed with that permit.
Enforcement action is taken if either a permission is needed and has not been obtained or development is not being carried out in accordance with the approved plans or any condition in the permit.
If such cases have been detected, a stop notice or a stop and enforcement notice can be issued. If such action is taken, the contravener should stop immediately and take any necessary actions to regularise his/her position within a 16- to 30-day period of receipt of the enforcement notice as specified in the enforcement notice.
A brief summary of my recent experiences is as follows.
It was reported that the permit condition requiring that any excavation shall be subject to the requirements of the Civil Code regarding neighbouring tenements, was not being adhered to. Mepa’s reply was: “It is not Mepa’s competence to enforce but a civil issue between parties concerned”. A process that would take many months to resolve.
It was reported that the permit condition requiring that the development shall be carried out in accordance with LN 295 of 2007, had been infringed upon. I received the reply that this legal notice “does not fall within Mepa’s remit” and should be referred to the Ministry of Resources and Rural Affairs, which was subsequently done.
In the meantime, I and the neighbours adjacent to the site are subjected to transmission noises from excavation activities that are in excess of 100dB for up to 10 hours a day which potentially could cause damage to hearing.
It should also be noted that the first item was referred to the Ombudsman on June 26 for his consideration but no reply has yet been forthcoming, while the second was referred to the Ombudsman on July 20.
It is totally unacceptable for Mepa, which sets the conditions of development permits, to claim that it is not within their “competence/remit” to enforce contraventions of those conditions.
It would appear from the foregoing that Mepa have renounced their enforcement responsibilities, allowing developers to blithely ignore conditions set out in their permits while giving little or no hope to Joe Citizen of obtaining redress for any contraventions.