The plenary session of the Calpe Town Council today dealt with the protection of the last unspoiled land on the coast of Calpe, a plot of land in the Urbanización Manzanera, located directly on the coast, of approximately 10,000m2 with a buildable area of 1.2%.
As the Councillor for Landscape Planning, Juan Manuel del Pino, explained, this is a plot of land on which a building permit could be applied for, so it is urgent to "open a debate on three alternatives: to maintain the current status of the land and grant a building permit, expropriation with the economic disadvantage, or move the development to other areas in the same Urbanización La Manzanera. The latter option, which is defended by the municipal government, would mean a re-qualification of the green spaces and facilities in La Manzanera, in order to use them and increase the possibility of building on the plots that are still to be developed.
All opposition groups have voted against the option of transferring development to other areas. Defendamos Calpe's spokesman, Paco Quiles, has pointed out the lack of a report on the economic viability and uncertainty about the ownership of the land. For his part, the spokesman for Compromís, Ximo Perles, has advocated expropriation in order to save the land, "and to avoid transferring the development potential of one area to another, we do not share the idea of the Landscape Council to draw this option at no cost".
The Socialist Group spokesperson, Santos Pastor, has opted for a revision of the general plan, as "with this proposal we condemn the few green spaces of La Manzanera" and has proposed to open a study on forced expropriations.
The Councillor for Landscape Planning, Juan Manuel del Pino, has stressed the need to be "pragmatic; we know the state of the municipal coffers and we must look for more realistic solutions than expropriation. The mayor, Ana Sala, said that "what we are excluding is doing nothing; we are not willing to pay for this land because there are other owners of other lands who are also waiting for a solution, waiting for the City Council to pay them.
Finally, the City Council has approved the proposal to move the development of this land to other areas, while the opposition has voted against it.
In addition, the plenary has approved the costs of 225,312.80 Euros to the Red Cross for the transport of sick people. The Mayor, Ana Sala, has pointed out that "we cannot stop providing this ambulance service, even if it is not our responsibility; it is the responsibility of the Generalitat (regional government), but it does not delegate the responsibility to us and does not take responsibility for the lack of medical transport service that we suffer in the community".
400,261.20 euros for the transport of waste to the Campello plant were also approved. The municipal auditor has reported that "the City Council issued the tender for the waste transport service, but one of the bidders appealed and we are blocked until the decision is made, but the service could not be stopped".
Also approved, with the votes of the government faction, was a procedure for extrajudicial recognition of obligations over 76,659.87 euros.