Illegal Armier structure still standing after three months

An illegal villa that started being built around election time at Armier remains standing, months after the Planning Authority (PA) issued an enforcement notice.

Photos taken by MaltaToday on 25 September show that the villa structure remains practically intact despite demolition works having been started when the illegality was first flagged last June.

MaltaToday sent questions to the PA asking whether the enforcement notice remains in force, whether Mangion is still paying fines on the structure, whether the authority will be taking further action against him, and why the demolition was halted.

The PA did not reply.

The illegal development belongs to Franklin Mangion of Żurrieq, a minority shareholder in Solitaire Property Ltd, a property development company currently in dissolution. Mangion is also the sole shareholder of Admin Services Ltd, a Mellieħa-based company that provides condominium administration services.

The structure’s openings were boarded and orange sheeting was still in place when MaltaToday visited the site on 25 September, with concrete block walls, rubble and building debris scattered around the plot.

Demolition works began on 16 June, but the Malta Ranger Unit (MRU) has said this was the only time such works were carried out, with a photo taken on 1 July showing the villa in the same condition it was in when the works began.

The PA had previously said it was considering further action against Mangion under the Development Planning Act, after he failed to comply with orders to stop works and proceeded without authorisation.

The site had first been reported to the PA days before the general election on 30 May, when it consisted only of pallets and concrete blocks. Within two weeks, the MRU said, the structure had developed into a villa with plastered side walls and a ceiling.

At the time, the PA confirmed that daily fines against the development had begun accumulating. Under the system, fines increase progressively over time and may trigger referral to the authority's direct action team for demolition once a threshold of €50,000 is reached.

The authority had also issued Enforcement Notice EC/00071/26, requiring the site to be restored to its original state within 16 days. Mellieħa mayor Gabriel Micallef had called on the PA to enforce its own notice, saying works had continued unabated despite the order.