The Local Councils Association, the Environment and Rural Affairs Ministry and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority are working to reduce the inconvenience caused by badly used vacant sites within urban areas.

As from Monday, Mepa will be receiving directions from local councils as to which sites are to be the subject of enforcement notices for not being adequately walled off.

For the past weeks, the three partners have carried out a nation-wide awareness campaign in order to give property owners the chance to check with their local council as to whether their vacant site is an environmental or safety hazard to the locality. The following criteria need to be followed when walling off such sites:

• the eight-course boundary wall should be constructed along the official road alignment

• it should be constructed of limestone or concrete brick material

• a 4-inch concrete capping should be placed above the top course to secure the wall

• Single walls should have stone pillars constructed to support the wall at two-meter interval or as advised by the architect overseeing the work

• The site should be cleared of any dumped material

Mepa will only issue an enforcement notice if the local council identifies a site as having negative environmental and safety impacts and render an area unsightly and potentially hazardous.

Failure to abide by this notice within three months will result in a fine of Lm50 per metre of frontage, subject to a maximum of Lm1,000. In addition, the site owner will have to pay, with interest, for the costs incurred by the local council for the construction of a boundary wall.

No development permits will be issued in respect of these sites if these bills have not been settled.