The plenary session in Calp, which took place yesterday afternoon, unanimously approved the Strategic Environmental and Territorial Report on the modification of the D-14 General Plan to change the construction parameters in the Morelló, Ifach, La Fossa and Saladar sectors. The report was approved by the Board of Directors after consultation with various municipal (Ministry of Commerce, Equality, Local Police ...) and supra-municipal (Coastal, Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar River...) bodies, which gave their approval.
This is the continuation of the procedure, minus its handover to the Spatial Planning Service, its publication in the DOGV and a public information phase for final approval.
In this way, new parameters will be established that will homogenise the nature and scope of construction in these sectors. "The aim is to homogenize the Calp urban landscape so that large towers are not built sporadically," says Juan Manuel del Pino, town councillor for town planning and regional development. And he added that thanks to this change, a project of 30 heights has now been transformed into two buildings of 15 heights and another one near the port of 32 heights into two towers of 19 heights, which will be homogenized with the surrounding buildings, "which will be kept at 17 and 18 heights.
The debate on this point revolved around the protection of the Banys de la Reina, as these new urban planning measures abolish the release of heights in the Saladar, which had been approved in the previous legislature to transfer the urban planning rights of the owners of the archaeological site to this area.
With regard to the protection of the Banys de la Reina, which were later declared a Cultural Property of Cultural Interest by the Generalitat, Del Pino stated that the Ministry of Culture was "very interested" in preserving this archaeological area and that he was aware that compensation was outstanding for the owners. And he pointed out that the City Council is waiting to receive concrete instructions for the elaboration of a special plan for the site. The Mayor, Ana Sala, called for the involvement of the Generalitat to find a way to compensate the owners and protect this site.
Other points of urban content were debated in the plenary session, such as the action programme for the construction of a 19-storey building and the project for the land consolidation of the area where it will be located in calle Ponent, 2 in La Calalga, which was adopted with the votes of the government team and the opposition against.
This is a 2,430 square meter property on which the city council holds urban development rights over 792 meters, as the PGOU of 1998 had classified the entire area of the original property as buildable. In their proposal, the new owners of the land recognise that 792 metres are owned by the city council; they give the city council a public square and a street, and they compensate the city council for the use of the land with approximately one million euros. At the same time, with the 2,400 square meters, the company will gain construction capacity and will be able to construct a wider building - to be more precise, it will be able to have a thousand square meters more roof area in its construction.
The spokesman for Defendamos Calpe, Paco Quiles, said that "here is an opportunity to prevent the increase in construction capacity in this part of the city like La Fossa, and thus greater saturation in an already saturated area.
Compromís spokesman, Ximo Perles, has criticised the rejection of the reservations expressed on this project. He stated that he believes that there is a hidden segregation of the land in this operation. "When a plot of land is divided and you use the two parts exclusively and not even the city council has a share in the building, for me it is a separation, but not as a separation, but as a pro indiviso to sell this building to the developer," he said.
Social Democratic Party Councillor Marco Bittner also insisted that this was a saturated area, adding: "It seems that the Council is working more for this client than in the general interest".
Juan Manuel del Pino, Town Councillor for Town Planning and Territory, recalled that the legal regime that currently applies to this land is the PGOU - General Plan of 98, which covers a buildable area of 2,430 square metres "and all buildable". And he pointed out that the government team accepts the company's proposal instead of another option, such as a specific amendment to the PGOU, which would make the land available again to the city administration for construction.
"We have to take into account that we will get a finished public square and a street leading to the finished public promenade, which will not cost us one Euro, and on top of that we will get one million Euro. We will receive a public benefit; moreover, it is normal for the promoter to receive its particular benefit at the same time," he indicated.
Another issue that triggered the debate in the plenary session was the motion presented by the PSOE and the Compromís calling for the declassification of the Ràfol I and II, Feliu I and II and Garduix I and II sectors, supported by a report from the municipal technical services, which states that the city can release these plots of land without responsibility for their assets and finances, a proposal that was supported by Defendamos Calpe.
For its part, the government team, which had reported on the public consultation opened in the same plenary session on the future of urban planning in these sectors, made it clear that the time had come to seek the opinion of citizens on this issue and that after the summer it would be examining, together with the opposition, the various options that might arise. Juan Manuel del Pino also pointed out that before approving an urban planning instrument, prior consultation must be carried out and therefore "we are complying with the law".
"The government team's option is reasonable, sensible and very responsible; we can't rush things, we have to see things in their proper perspective and weigh the pros and cons," said the mayor, who said there are other options for action on these sectors besides declassification.