A number of illegal buildings around Malta have been demolished by the planning authority enforcement unit over the last few weeks.

In Wardija, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority removed an illegal boundary wall, a racing track and “substantial amounts” of dumped construction rubble and waste, clearing stretches of garigue.

Once enforcement officers started clearing the site, the owner agreed to remove all the remaining material, Mepa said.

Action was also carried out in sites where dumping or structures were causing an inconvenience to residents.

These operations were carried out just days before a new law comes into force removing the possibility of regularising illegal development – built after May 2008 – in scheduled or protected areas.

In another operation, enforcement officers removed a structure probably intended as a boathouse in Daħlet Qorrot Bay, Qala (photo).

Also, the planning authority sealed off entrances to a site in a valley between Rabat and Mtarfa where illegal material had been dumped.

Acting on complaints by the Birżebbuġa local council, enforcement officers cleared a large site Il-Qajjenza Street which for a number of years had been left abandoned and where large quantities of construction waste was illegally dumped.

Two big garages illegally used for commercial purposes were closed off in Birkirkara and Żebbuġ. Enforcement officers walled off part of the entrance to the Birkirkara garage so that only cars and not commercial vehicles could be parked inside while in Żebbuġ they sealed off the electrical supply of a garage that was illegally used as storage and cold room by a nearby confectioner.