A total of 13 agenda items were on the table at the Extraordinary Plenary Session held by the Orihuela Council on Thursday, all of which related to actions outstanding in Orihuela Costa.
The meeting was called by the Orihuela Government following a motion tabled by the opposition parties two weeks earlier. The short notice of just 3 days, however, and the 8am start in Orihuela City, were thought by many to be an extremely cynical way by the mayor of discouraging coastal residents from attending, as was his refusal, contrary to the legal right, to allow questions to be put by the coast’s largest resident’s association, AVCRL.
In summing up the three-hour meeting, which finished just after 11 am, the Cambiemos Councillor, Enrique Montero, said that every response provided by the government was exactly the same. “I can’t take it anymore,” he added, as he reviewed the session, with so many questions being left in the air. “Of the answers that we did get they were all the same, the Orihuela Costa is currently a work in progress.”
Leticia Pertegal, also of Cambiemos, said that it will be necessary to convene more plenary sessions of this type just as soon as everything starts moving forward.
There were answers given, but little information about specifics or dates. However, on the matter of the ongoing school crisis, which is crippling education on the coast, the Councillor for Urban Planning, Matías Ruiz, said that the prefabricated classrooms in Calle Níspero, the site for the new temporary school, will begin to be assembled on the 14th, a task that will last two months. The school will then be ready to accept students in January.
The councillor also added that 12,000 square metres of land in La Cuerda urbanisation is to be ceded to the Regional Ministry for the construction of the new, long awaited, and permanent ‘brick built’ educational centre.
With Ruiz still the centre of attention, matters then turned to the construction of a second health centre. The councillor stated that the Council will hold a meeting with the conselleria on the 11th October to study the formula. Among the options being considered is that the Generalitat will meet the cost while the local government will manage the work.
The sea front walkway between Aguamarina and La Caleta, was the next item raised with Ruiz reporting that the municipal surveyors have already made an appraisal that will be sent to the Provincial Jury of Expropriation. A budget of 600,000 euros has been set aside for this purpose which it is hoped will be completed by Easter.
Another pending issue, the footbridge over the AP-7, the scene of last week’s dramatic car accident, where Ruiz explained that there have already been meetings with the State Highways Agency. The drafting of the project, and its connection with calle Cabo de Creus, said Ruiz, will soon be put out to tender for 86,344 euros (VAT included) with a completion period of 22 weeks. The execution of the works, he stated, is included in the 2024 budget
Next to speak was Councillor Rocio Ortuño, who said that her department has removed 112 tons of debris on the coast, in an emergency action, following a report by the Local Police, warning of risks, while the tender is now completed for the cleaning of uncontrolled dumping throughout the municipality.
On the subject of a fixed ecopark, the Council “will cede the land in the coming days,” said the councillor, to the Consortium of the Vega Baja. Indeed, since the meeting on Thursday a plot of 5,479m2 located on calle Otelo in PAU 8 has been earmarked. Once the land is officially handed over, construction will take about 6 months at a cost of €400,000, which will be met entirely by the Vega Baja Consortium.
Another of the issues discussed was the breakdown of the lifts leading to Punta Prima beach and Barranco Rubio beach in Campoamor. In this case, the councillor for the Coast, Manuel Mestre, pointed out that the repairs to the Punta Prima elevator have been carried out on a couple of occasions, but the breakdown has reoccurred once again.
Regarding Barranco Rubio, he said that these lifts, located in the Miraver building, are not municipal property and that he is trying to reach an agreement with the community of residents that owns them, to transfer their ownership. Repairing the lifts on Campoamor beaches will cost 18,000 euros
Although the residents association, AVCRL, was refused permission to ask questions of the government, their voice was taken up by Councillor Luisa Boné, who read out the question they could not ask: “Do you think, Mr. Mayor, that the coast, the economic engine of our municipality and the largest contributor to the municipal budget, deserves to be governed with neglect, as your government is doing, without providing the Department of Orihuela Costa the powers or the budget, officials, and the means necessary, to move out of the serious situation we are in?
The final point on the agenda was a vote of no confidence in the councillor for the coast, Manuel Mestre (Vox), although already having closed the meeting the mayor had to be reminded that the matter was still outstanding.
Despite recriminations from the opposition a vote was subsequently taken, and, going along party lines, the motion was defeated.
