A botch-up.
As stated in ruling 523/16 of the Administrative Litigation Court of Elche, the decree signed by Antonio Zapata as a delegate councilor for Urbanism, Planning and Heritage, on March 10, 2015, which dictated the demolition of the perimeter fence of the The eastern boundary of the Bellavista residential complex is a null and void act and, therefore, lacking any legal basis.
Today there are many residents of Orihuela Costa – especially residents in the area – who, as is expected, are saddened by the closure of the passage between Aguamarina and Cabo Roig. Those people, who for more than six years have been able to enjoy beautiful views and direct connections on the front line of the coast and are deprived of “that luxury”, have the right to be annoyed, to complain and to express their frustration.
There has been more than enough time to carry out the expropriation for public use of this section of land, the only legal channel to solve this problem. It is urgent, since it is too late, to define the value of the land and to approve the project that will entail this declaration of public use and the need for occupation that will lead to the definitive expropriation of this stretch of promenade.
We share with them their demands and anger at having a wall that prevents walking through such a place: it is, without a doubt, the obligation of citizens to know the administrative mechanisms or understand why things happen. But it is also the obligation of public representatives to do pedagogy, explain decisions and events according to the truth, using technical and legal arguments, setting milestones, with easy-to-use explanations that shed light on the decisions that are made. You know: what, how, why, who … Hence these lines.
The height of nonsense caused by the decree of the socialist – or ex-socialist, I don’t know how the issue is – in the spring of 2015 diminishes essential data such as that the construction of the Bellavista residential complex dates from 1985, that is, it is five years prior to the approval of the Orihuela General Urban Planning Plan, or that this document that governs local urban planning refers to a promenade at an intermediate height between the sea and the controversial pedestrian road that concerns us.
Therefore, today, simply, justice has been done – which is not little. Today, as much as we may regret, what was never public domain has been closed to the public and what a judge said is theirs and always has been returned to the Bellavista I community of owners.
Some time ago Zapata asked for the resignations of others regarding this matter, but at this time he is silent. His mayoralty was accidental; his management of the Aguamarina Pass, a botch.
Artículo de Opinión
José Aix
Concejal de Urbanismo y Planeamiento
Vicealcade de Orihuela
This post is also available in: Spanish
