Planning Authority moves in to remove illegal billboards

The Planning Authority has moved in to start removing illegal billboards which have not been removed by the respective owners, following the target deadline of the 5th May 2016.

The Authority started its operation along two major arterial roads which included the Mriehel Bypass (Birkirkara/Qormi) and Triq Aldo Moro, Marsa. 

During the operation, the Authority directly removed 12 illegal billboards while the remaining 19 illegal structures, which the Authority had also targeted to remove within these areas, were eventually taken away by the offenders themselves. The removal of these billboards is being carried out at the expense of the respective offenders.

Officers from the Enforcement Directorate of the Planning Authority coordinated the operation with the assistance of officers from the Enforcement Unit of Transport Malta and the Administrative Law Enforcement section of the Police.  The operation was carried out during night time so as to cause the least disruption and inconvenience to motorists.

The new “Billboards and Advertisements Regulations”, which took effect early last month through Legal Notice 103 of 2016, provide certainty in determining which billboards are legal or illegal. During the month of April 2016, the Authority issued enforcement notices against more than 250 illegal billboards.  More than 100 of these illegal billboards have already been removed by their respective owners.

The Authority will continue to remove the remaining illegal billboards in the coming days. The owners of the illegal billboards are urged to comply with the requirements of the enforcement notices served on them so as to avoid the payment of the expenses incurred by the Authority in carrying out these direct actions.