Unauthorised villa construction continues despite PA enforcement, rangers say

Updated 10.30am

Unauthorised construction of a house in Armier appears to be nearing completion, with Planning Authority enforcement seeming to do little to dissuade the contraveners from continuing work, the Malta Rangers claim. 

In a Facebook post on Tuesday highlighting “powerless” PA enforcement, the rangers said the 'villa' in Armier is “taking shape”.

Photos of the site taken on Tuesday show a roof now fixed to the structure, which on May 29 was just a collection of bricks waiting to be assembled.

Outlining the rapid progression of the construction, the rangers posted photos showing bricks brought to the site at the end of May, put in place on June 3 and a worker assembling walls on June 5, when the case was first highlighted in the media.

Plastering of the walls and the installation of ceiling beams were completed by the following day, the rangers said.

Blocks were unloaded at the site on May 29. Photo: MRU.

June 3: Workers are on site and bricks are in place. Photo: MRU.

A worker is spotted putting the walls up on June 5. Photo: MRU.

It's June 6, and the walls have been plastered. Photo: MRU.

“When this case was reported the first time, the day before the elections, it was just pallets with blocks placed near the site and ground vegetation removed”, the MRU wrote on Facebook.

“A week later, despite several reports to the Planning Authority, and with the contravener allegedly spoken to by the authority, the soon-to-be villa is taking shape”, the post read.

“The contravener was told at the beginning of June that he had 16 days to restore the site to its original state. Instead, he continued the work. Not once, but day after day after day.

"At this point, even though we feel helpless seeing that the system is seemingly left broken and enabling these types of scenarios, we remain committed to documenting the timeline of illegal developments," the rangers said. 

The chance of it being taken down now is nearly zero- Malta Ranger Unit

An enforcement case (EC/00071/26) applies to the site for “Unauthorised development ... of a brick structure presently not roofed over [and] the deposition of inert and construction material around the perimeter”.

While the date of the enforcement notice was not available, the text suggests it was applied to the site before Tuesday. It notes that no permission had been sought for the construction of the structure.

The enforcement notice names one Franklin Mangion as the contravener. A second contravener is named as the chairperson of the Lands Authority, suggesting the site could be government-owned.

'We called PA every day'

Speaking to Times of Malta, a spokesperson for the rangers said the unit had contacted the PA “every day” while the works were ongoing.

The authority told the MRU it had already visited the site before one report was made. On another occasion, workers had already left the area before officers turned up, the rangers said.

When making a report on June 6, the rangers were told by the authority that it would inspect the area again later that day. That evening, the beams were fitted to the structure, according to the MRU.

“The chance of it [the villa] being taken down now is nearly zero,” the spokesperson said, adding the site lay less than one kilometre from a protected Natura 2000 site.

Questions were sent to the Planning Authority.

Mellieħa mayor writes to PA

Mellieħa mayor Gabriel Micallef said on Wednesday he had written to the PA over the matter.

"When an enforcement notice is not followed by effective enforcement, people are right to ask questions," he said.

The mayor said he had asked the PA for an update on the enforcement measures being taken.

An enforcement notice needs to be enforced; otherwise, the message being sent is that those who break the rules can simply carry on as if nothing happened, he said.

He also thanked the Malta Ranger Unit for its continued efforts in documenting such cases.