Orihuela has given conditional environmental approval to a proposal to replace a planned hotel with housing in the PAU-21 sector of Orihuela Costa, the Las Colinas Golf & Country Club area, also known in planning documents as Peña del Águila.
The decision moves the planning process forward, but does not amount to final approval for construction.
Mayor Pepe Vegara has signed the strategic environmental and territorial report for the proposed change of use on plot AUH in La Peña del Águila. Developer Campoamor Sun & Beach wants to build four-storey residential blocks in an area largely characterised by detached homes around Las Colinas Golf.
The council’s environmental technicians found no significant adverse effects from the proposed planning change. However, the favourable report is subject to binding conditions raised by other authorities.
The Segura River Basin Authority has identified technical deficiencies that must be resolved before the plan can receive final approval. It requires a flood study and further information on the protection of watercourses, including the Cañada del Espartal ravine, which crosses the wider development. The developer must also define the ravine and its associated protection zones.
Water supply is another outstanding issue. The developer must calculate expected demand year by year for at least nine years, or until the development is complete. It must explain how wastewater will be handled, describe the drainage system and identify any discharge permits needed.
The change from hotel to residential use also brings an affordable housing obligation. Regional planning officials say the additional residential capacity requires a reserve of land for officially protected housing. If that provision is proposed elsewhere in Orihuela, the developer must justify why it is unnecessary within PAU-21 and identify the alternative site precisely.
Any trees felled must be replaced with planting equivalent to 150% of the number removed, as required by Orihuela’s planning rules.
The proposal comes against a long and contentious planning history. PAU-21 was authorised in the Sierra Escalona area during the construction boom, prompting objections over development near valuable natural land. Water supply and environmental protections have previously been the subject of court proceedings. The boundaries of the protected landscape were subsequently redrawn to exclude land within the development.
The latest proposal is separate from Orihuela’s recent sale of three municipal plots for housing on the coast. One of those plots, also in PAU-21, was sold for €11.48 million, but is a different site from the hotel-use plot covered by this planning change.
The next steps are a period of public consultation and further technical and legal reports. The developer must satisfy the outstanding conditions before the change of use can be finally approved.
