At yesterday's Calpe Town Council meeting, with the votes in favour of Somos Calpee, Pspv-Psoe and Compromís, the abstention of the Partido Popular and the votes against Defendamos Calpee, the start of the process to modify the areas known as Garduix I and II, Pla Feliu I and II and Ráfol I and II as developable land with the aim of reclassifying them as green space and public land.
The sectors of Ráfol I and II, Feliu I and II and Garduix I and II make up a large green space of more than 300,000 m² in an area of residential developments. These sectors already appear in the 1998 General Urban Development Plan (PGOU) as developable land, However, they are rural land that has not been developed for 27 years and therefore the regulations allow the administration to declassify them.
Once the start of the process has been approved in plenary session, the procedure is transferred to the Territorial Planning Commission of the Valencian Regional Government, which is responsible for continuing with the process.
The City Council intends to acquire the land by compensating the owners for expropriation in accordance with the nature of the land as rural, i.e. when compensating the owners, the land will be valued as it stands and not for the urban rights that have not been realised. Technical reports value the square metre at €5.37.
The councillor for Defendamos Calpee, Toni Tur, stated that ‘we have many doubts about this point due to the changes in criteria. We are in favour of reclassifying the land as rural. I have looked at case law on similar cases and this seems to me to be an experiment or a photo opportunity that could end up harming the residents of Calpe in the future’.
For his part, the spokesperson for the Popular Party, Miguel Crespo, questioned the procedure, pointing out that "it is proposed to pay €5.37 per square metre, this action has no legal guarantee for the Town Council and could legally compromise the municipality. There are different options for obtaining land for public use and respecting the rights of the owners, and we are not aware of any meetings or negotiations with the owners. We do not know if a compulsory purchase has been made by this council in the past. The PP considers it necessary to obtain land for public use and protect green areas, but also to safeguard the rights of the owners".
The spokesperson for the socialist group, Guillermo Sendra, indicated that ‘the opposition is using different arguments that have already been refuted. The thing is, it is going to be difficult for them to back down in front of the public. This is not an ecological battle, it is a battle for social justice. We are facing a unique and courageous proposal that benefits the entire city. They have the opportunity to show that we are not here to follow political slogans but to think about the people.’
Sendra explained the three options on this point: ‘Declassification through expropriation to obtain land for schools, hospitals or sports areas; keeping the land as rural in the hands of the owners so that they can build villas on 10,000 m2 plots and lose public land; or allowing the owners to do whatever they want’.
Ximo Perles, spokesperson for the government and Compromís, intervened, pointing out that ‘rarely have the legitimate representatives of popular sovereignty taken a decision so faithful to the mandate of the citizens as today’. He also explained that ‘much of this land was acquired by the owners in 1997, just one year before the 1998 General Plan was approved, that is, one year before it was reclassified from rustic to developable’. Perles also recalled that ‘the land of the former fairgrounds was already paid for at rustic prices, even though there were access roads, drainage channels and fencing’.
The Councillor for Land Use, Juan Manuel del Pino, stressed that ‘we have no desire to go against anyone, this is land that has been unplanned for 30 years, during which time Calpe and the world have changed, and today there is a different sensibility. There are already important plans that need to be developed, such as Benicolada, El Saladar and Buenavista, and Calpe has not stopped growing’. The councillor explained that attempts to reach agreements between the owners have been unsuccessful and announced that a process is now beginning that could take years.
The mayoress, Ana Sala, closed the debate by stating that ‘this is a courageous decision. I have no baggage or mortgages, I do not have to follow instructions from others like you who follow the voice of your master. The owners will appeal to discuss the price per square metre. We have nothing against the owners, but after six years of meetings and negotiations, this is the best measure’.
AEMCO subsidy
Outside the agenda, a credit modification was approved to grant a subsidy of €18,900 to AEMCO so that the traders' association can manage parking tickets for its customers or launch promotions or campaigns to alleviate the lack of parking spaces.
The opposition groups abstained, as they had not had prior access to the file and considered that the government's lack of foresight would cost the taxpayer money.