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Matthew Vella
Billboard contractors have been “threatened” with direct action if they do not remove illegal billboards erected alongside Maltese roads, this newspaper is informed, although the Malta Environment and Planning Authority is now approaching the situation with caution.
Contractors are being asked to remove the illegal structures by MEPA, after a warning issued by the authority planning direct action after 30 September 2005, was apparently not taken seriously by the billboard companies, sources said. Discussions between contractors and MEPA were held for the matter to be explained further.
Over 85 billboards, not covered by a full MEPA permit, were still standing in October with new adverts affixed to them.
The ‘wait-and-see’ approach by MEPA will be followed up by action in the coming weeks as it monitors the dismantling of billboards. The authority has already informed contractors that temporary structures are no longer being permitted.
It has been revealed however that most of the island’s billboards were so-called temporary structures which required no full MEPA permit – not only are they prohibited from being used for commercial purposes, but they also have to be dismantled after they no longer serve their purpose of advertisement.
When MEPA informed contractors it would clamp down on illegal structures after 30 September however, some three weeks later 13 billboards were sanctioned by the authority’s Development Control Commission.
All belonging to the same group of companies, the 13 billboards were sanctioned on the same day on 24 October after these had been erected without MEPA permits. The same companies attempted to rectify other illegal billboards three days prior to the 30 September deadline: nine applications were refused, but four others were approved, despite being recommended for refusal for being “unacceptable from a visual point of view” and “incompatible with the principles of good urban design.”
MEPA is now preparing a planning subsidiary guideline on the erection of permanent billboards, which will be issued for public consultation in the following weeks.
Both MEPA and the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) have now agreed that in processing of future planning applications, MEPA will be looking into the design and aesthetic matters of the proposal whilst the traffic issues will be dealt with by ADT.
mvella@mediatoday.com.mt
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