Tense information meeting in Alcossebre to discuss the effects of Pativel on the Castellón shores
![[Img #54190]](upload/img/periodico/img_54190.jpg)
On the 16th January, a meeting was held in the Alcossebre Pensioners Centre to discuss PATIVEL, with the Director General of Town Planning, José Luis Ferrando, and the vice-Director, Vicente Domenech, present.
Attending the meeting were representatives of all the municipal political parties, and political representatives from other places affected such as Benicarló, Xilxes, Oropesa del Mar and Cabanes, among others, and about 150 residents and others affected.
Vicente Domenech spoke first, and assured that “the aim for the 71 towns affected is to emphasise the importance of creating environmentally sustainable development, with the maximum protection possible. Up to now, we have met with all the councils and they have brought us up to date with the state of their development models”. He added that “Pativel covers the policy aims of a majority, with regard to the regulation of land use”.
He was followed by José Luis Ferrando, stating ”Pativel will mark a before and an after. Up to now, there has been no order in town planning in the Valencian Community, with each council seeking to have as much developable land as possible; and now you can see that we have 15% more than is needed. This means that the investors do not know where to develop, sorting it out will mean that there are real development possibilities”.
Ferrando added that “we want to make it so that each one can do as much as possible; we come wanting to create rational development. We know that land regulation is difficult, and it should be investigated with citizen participation. Our aim is to protect the landscape and environmental spaces and for every town to be treated the same”.
Ferrando assured the meeting that these modifications will help to create a quality tourist destination and stated that “what we are doing now is creating a common policy in a sense” stating that “it is not that we want to prevent building, but that we want to preserve the best landscape. To give the spaces greater value”. Along these lines he explained that “from 500 metres inland it will be possible to create sports areas and hotels, to give our tourism quality and a future”. “Currently we have ‘banana republic’ tourism, we need quality, and not as in Oropesa where they are overcrowded and in the sun in turn”.
José Luis Ferrando indicated that “there are investigations which show a peak of interest in ecotourism, our tourism cannot be such that someone from Zaragoza spends 200,000 euros on a flat, which is then empty for 10 months. Whoever comes has to live on our coast as it is, this means encouraging camping tourism and that our industries must be sustainable”. The autonomous officer added “I am proud that this plan has not used any political or ideological criteria”.
In the actual case of Alcossebre, he explained “specific standards have been created here. In Alcossebre in the north of the municipality it is not possible to develop within 200 metres of the sea, nor in places where there is a 25% slope”.
Permitted/prohibited Uses if I am an owner of land with LEVEL 1 protection
In general, Level 1 applies to land included within the 500 m fringe land. In the case of Alcossebre, the majority of this reaches 1,000 metres.
PROHIBITED: homes, industry and any type of building, tourist camp sites, glass houses, etc.
PERMITTED: Renovation of existing buildings which are established legally for use as homes, restaurants or tourist accommodation, tool sheds used for agricultural purposes.
Renovation projects will have to be studied for their landscape integration and carry out service infrastructures to minimise the environmental impact.
Permitted/prohibited Uses if I am an owner of land with LEVEL 2 protection
This type of protection will apply to the land further inland from the 500 metre band.
PERMITTED: Publicly funded uses, sports and open-air recreation uses, golf courses with no dwellings, tourist camp sites.
Some hotels, up to 2% maximum occupation, maximum 2 floors, and 10% maximum occupation for complementary uses which do not entail more than low works.
EXAMPLE: For hotel use, with 50/70 rooms, a minimum plot of 100,000 sq. metres.
PROHIBITED: Everything else.
Regarding zone two, he also said that “there will also be regulations for not creating building walls at 500 or 1000 metres inland”.
On permitted uses, he clarified that “Pativel will not affect activities which are already in operation such as the Tropicana camp site”, indicating that “we want to encourage the creation of rural hotels, in which construction will be regulated with a minimum of metres”.
He ended his first speech stating that “I know I am the bad person, who wants you to be poor; I know that this is how you wanted to sell it, but this land has been classified for 15 years and it has not been possible to develop it because of environmental problems. This development model has been a failure. Those years during which we were in the clouds have passed, the lottery each year has passed and it is not Pativel’s fault. These are the same criteria for everyone and thus not by being anyone’s friend, they paint the map in one colour or another”.
He ended by expressing that from the Valencian Generalitat “we want cohesion, to be a source of wealth, and this is just a beginning, not “full stop and end”. I can understand that you may be furious at the expectations. There has to be a moment to reflect, to look out for the general interests, with no sort of ideology”.
Division of opinions between the local political parties
After the speech, there was a question and answer session for the public, which was used by members of the municipal corporation to have their say.
The first to speak was the mayor, Francisco Juan, who stated “much has been said, but as you tell it, this is not our reality. Here we have not permitted these barbarities, here we have no tall buildings and here, yes, we are very proud of the type of tourism we have”, to which he added “the General Plan for our town was created by all the political parties. It is without doubt one of the most respected. Here we see how your policy objectives are becoming technical and this concerns me”.
He then referred to articles publishes in the digital edition of El7Set, declarations from Ignacio Subias and Belén Bachero, in which they state that it has not been possible to develop Capicorb since 2006 because of the threat of flooding. “They say that I hid information, and this is not certain. In 2006 I was not in the council and today I do not state that Capicorb has been declassified, but that there are corrective measures. How do you see these?”
Francisco Juan Mars asked the officers present for clarification on this matter, “I hope that you will be present at the meeting on 24th January and can clarify this for us”, adding that “the danger of approving Pativel is that everything affected will automatically be declassified”.
Regarding the beaches, the mayor of Alcala de Xivert-Alcossebre indicated that “there is no sense in them being listed as natural, both the Romana and the Cargador beaches are within a developed area, now fencing in the uses which can be made”.
Ferrando replied to the mayor that Capicorb “can be developed but it is affected by an overlap of different values”, adding that “in Alcossebre you have a regressive dynamic regarding the population, and this has to be taken into account”.
The socialist spokesperson, Joan Ronchera, was the next to speak stating that “I knew that this meeting would not be easy, but we want to build bridges with the Generalitat. In the Socialist Party we have an alternative, for Pativel to be developed in a smoother way, we have a technical proposal and we want your commitment that you will investigate our allegations”.
Ronchera stated that the local PSOE “says no to Pativel as it stands, we propose changing some sections of 2 to 1 and that which adjoins Doña Blanca should be able to be developed for social justice. It should be understood that 100,000 sq. metres for building is a barbarity and the uses have to be flexible, as with what there is, the sailing school on the Cargador beach disappears. All this is senseless” and finally he announced that he would circulate his proposal to the rest of the municipal groups “so that it can be negotiated with everyone and be presented in the complaints jointly”.
Adrián Barceló opened his speech stating “there still remains ¾ to be developed, with this plan no property is lost, just the right to develop”. He was unable to finish his speech because of continuous interruptions from the public.
Then Manel Salvador, speaking on behalf of Compromis, said that “we support it, we believe that it will be something good in the long term”.
Then residents and entrepreneurs spoke, describing their various concerns.
Finally, the Director said that complaints could be lodged up to the 31st January “if there are any mistakes, they will be corrected and the flexibility of certain measures will be studied”.
On the 16th January, a meeting was held in the Alcossebre Pensioners Centre to discuss PATIVEL, with the Director General of Town Planning, José Luis Ferrando, and the vice-Director, Vicente Domenech, present.
Attending the meeting were representatives of all the municipal political parties, and political representatives from other places affected such as Benicarló, Xilxes, Oropesa del Mar and Cabanes, among others, and about 150 residents and others affected.
Vicente Domenech spoke first, and assured that “the aim for the 71 towns affected is to emphasise the importance of creating environmentally sustainable development, with the maximum protection possible. Up to now, we have met with all the councils and they have brought us up to date with the state of their development models”. He added that “Pativel covers the policy aims of a majority, with regard to the regulation of land use”.
He was followed by José Luis Ferrando, stating ”Pativel will mark a before and an after. Up to now, there has been no order in town planning in the Valencian Community, with each council seeking to have as much developable land as possible; and now you can see that we have 15% more than is needed. This means that the investors do not know where to develop, sorting it out will mean that there are real development possibilities”.
Ferrando added that “we want to make it so that each one can do as much as possible; we come wanting to create rational development. We know that land regulation is difficult, and it should be investigated with citizen participation. Our aim is to protect the landscape and environmental spaces and for every town to be treated the same”.
Ferrando assured the meeting that these modifications will help to create a quality tourist destination and stated that “what we are doing now is creating a common policy in a sense” stating that “it is not that we want to prevent building, but that we want to preserve the best landscape. To give the spaces greater value”. Along these lines he explained that “from 500 metres inland it will be possible to create sports areas and hotels, to give our tourism quality and a future”. “Currently we have ‘banana republic’ tourism, we need quality, and not as in Oropesa where they are overcrowded and in the sun in turn”.
José Luis Ferrando indicated that “there are investigations which show a peak of interest in ecotourism, our tourism cannot be such that someone from Zaragoza spends 200,000 euros on a flat, which is then empty for 10 months. Whoever comes has to live on our coast as it is, this means encouraging camping tourism and that our industries must be sustainable”. The autonomous officer added “I am proud that this plan has not used any political or ideological criteria”.
In the actual case of Alcossebre, he explained “specific standards have been created here. In Alcossebre in the north of the municipality it is not possible to develop within 200 metres of the sea, nor in places where there is a 25% slope”.
Permitted/prohibited Uses if I am an owner of land with LEVEL 1 protection
In general, Level 1 applies to land included within the 500 m fringe land. In the case of Alcossebre, the majority of this reaches 1,000 metres.
PROHIBITED: homes, industry and any type of building, tourist camp sites, glass houses, etc.
PERMITTED: Renovation of existing buildings which are established legally for use as homes, restaurants or tourist accommodation, tool sheds used for agricultural purposes.
Renovation projects will have to be studied for their landscape integration and carry out service infrastructures to minimise the environmental impact.
Permitted/prohibited Uses if I am an owner of land with LEVEL 2 protection
This type of protection will apply to the land further inland from the 500 metre band.
PERMITTED: Publicly funded uses, sports and open-air recreation uses, golf courses with no dwellings, tourist camp sites.
Some hotels, up to 2% maximum occupation, maximum 2 floors, and 10% maximum occupation for complementary uses which do not entail more than low works.
EXAMPLE: For hotel use, with 50/70 rooms, a minimum plot of 100,000 sq. metres.
PROHIBITED: Everything else.
Regarding zone two, he also said that “there will also be regulations for not creating building walls at 500 or 1000 metres inland”.
On permitted uses, he clarified that “Pativel will not affect activities which are already in operation such as the Tropicana camp site”, indicating that “we want to encourage the creation of rural hotels, in which construction will be regulated with a minimum of metres”.
He ended his first speech stating that “I know I am the bad person, who wants you to be poor; I know that this is how you wanted to sell it, but this land has been classified for 15 years and it has not been possible to develop it because of environmental problems. This development model has been a failure. Those years during which we were in the clouds have passed, the lottery each year has passed and it is not Pativel’s fault. These are the same criteria for everyone and thus not by being anyone’s friend, they paint the map in one colour or another”.
He ended by expressing that from the Valencian Generalitat “we want cohesion, to be a source of wealth, and this is just a beginning, not “full stop and end”. I can understand that you may be furious at the expectations. There has to be a moment to reflect, to look out for the general interests, with no sort of ideology”.
Division of opinions between the local political parties
After the speech, there was a question and answer session for the public, which was used by members of the municipal corporation to have their say.
The first to speak was the mayor, Francisco Juan, who stated “much has been said, but as you tell it, this is not our reality. Here we have not permitted these barbarities, here we have no tall buildings and here, yes, we are very proud of the type of tourism we have”, to which he added “the General Plan for our town was created by all the political parties. It is without doubt one of the most respected. Here we see how your policy objectives are becoming technical and this concerns me”.
He then referred to articles publishes in the digital edition of El7Set, declarations from Ignacio Subias and Belén Bachero, in which they state that it has not been possible to develop Capicorb since 2006 because of the threat of flooding. “They say that I hid information, and this is not certain. In 2006 I was not in the council and today I do not state that Capicorb has been declassified, but that there are corrective measures. How do you see these?”
Francisco Juan Mars asked the officers present for clarification on this matter, “I hope that you will be present at the meeting on 24th January and can clarify this for us”, adding that “the danger of approving Pativel is that everything affected will automatically be declassified”.
Regarding the beaches, the mayor of Alcala de Xivert-Alcossebre indicated that “there is no sense in them being listed as natural, both the Romana and the Cargador beaches are within a developed area, now fencing in the uses which can be made”.
Ferrando replied to the mayor that Capicorb “can be developed but it is affected by an overlap of different values”, adding that “in Alcossebre you have a regressive dynamic regarding the population, and this has to be taken into account”.
The socialist spokesperson, Joan Ronchera, was the next to speak stating that “I knew that this meeting would not be easy, but we want to build bridges with the Generalitat. In the Socialist Party we have an alternative, for Pativel to be developed in a smoother way, we have a technical proposal and we want your commitment that you will investigate our allegations”.
Ronchera stated that the local PSOE “says no to Pativel as it stands, we propose changing some sections of 2 to 1 and that which adjoins Doña Blanca should be able to be developed for social justice. It should be understood that 100,000 sq. metres for building is a barbarity and the uses have to be flexible, as with what there is, the sailing school on the Cargador beach disappears. All this is senseless” and finally he announced that he would circulate his proposal to the rest of the municipal groups “so that it can be negotiated with everyone and be presented in the complaints jointly”.
Adrián Barceló opened his speech stating “there still remains ¾ to be developed, with this plan no property is lost, just the right to develop”. He was unable to finish his speech because of continuous interruptions from the public.
Then Manel Salvador, speaking on behalf of Compromis, said that “we support it, we believe that it will be something good in the long term”.
Then residents and entrepreneurs spoke, describing their various concerns.
Finally, the Director said that complaints could be lodged up to the 31st January “if there are any mistakes, they will be corrected and the flexibility of certain measures will be studied”.
