Early this morning, the Planning Authority resumed with its direct action to pull down a large  ex-wood factory, which was illegally built in the 1980s in an ODZ area, along Triq l-Imdina, Ħ’Attard.

Last January, when the Authority had moved in to commence its enforcement operation it was held back after the Court temporarily accepted a prohibitory injunction filed by the contravenor. The Court subsequently refused the contravenor’s request giving way for the Authority to resume its direct action.

The illegalities that are being removed and are spread over an area of 2500m² include a large one storey building, with some rooms on the rooftop, the formation of a long concrete driveway and platform, boundary walls and the deposit of inert material around the site. The Authority had already removed various animals and mixed materials from within the building and site.

The Planning Authority is leading this operation in close coordination with the Environment and Resources Authority, Wasteserve and the Police force in order to ensure the proper handling of the substantial volume of mixed waste present in the premises. The operation is estimated to last a couple of days.

The Authority had refused to grant planning permission when an outline development application was submitted in 1999 to seek to retain the building. This decision had been confirmed by the Appeals Board.