In 2009, the urban development project for Planes del Rei receives final approval. Yet this progress does not resolve the disagreements that arose the previous year. Some property owners continue to challenge the agreement with the Town Council, responsibility for public services remains disputed between the Council and the EUCC, and land readjustment becomes an essential next step.
The year is therefore more than a period of waiting for work to begin. Several matters that had previously been closely connected start to follow separate paths.
The project is approved, but the agreement remains disputed
Pratdip’s Junta de Govern Local, the municipal executive board, grants final approval to the urban development project on 16 February 2009, following its initial approval on 28 May 2008.
The project still needs to incorporate requirements concerning fire prevention, wastewater, rainwater drainage and the various utility networks. A financial guarantee equivalent to 12% of the cost of the work must also be provided.
The main difficulty, however, remains the urban development agreement with the Town Council. This document is intended to organise the work, its funding and the eventual formal acceptance of the development by the municipality.
Its approval at the General Assembly on 10 August 2008 is challenged. The document had been sent to the Governing Council only the day before, leaving property owners very little time to study it. By the end of 2008, around forty owners had already raised objections with the Town Council. In April 2009, the Governing Council refers to an appeal lodged by more than 47 owners.
This campaign appears to mark the emergence of the platform that will become known as SOS Planas, established in 2009, before the Residents’ Association is formed in 2011.
Miquel Colom’s analysis exposes a deeper disagreement
On 7 May 2009, the EUCC’s lawyer answers questions from its Governing Council. His analysis of the legal position in Planas del Rey is not a court ruling, but it sets out an interpretation very different from the Town Council’s.
In Miquel Colom’s view, the EUCC should have been dissolved in 1993 and the Town Council should be responsible for basic municipal services. He also considers that the High Court of Justice of Catalonia’s judgment of 25 January 2008 places drinking water supply and waste collection outside the EUCC’s own urban planning responsibilities.
As regards the work, he points out that the municipal urban plan, the POUM, provides for a cooperation system. Under this arrangement, the Town Council leads the scheme and allocates its cost among the property owners. The EUCC therefore cannot decide on its own to carry out the work.
The disagreement is no longer simply about when an agreement will be signed. It concerns the division of responsibilities between the Town Council, the EUCC and the property owners.
The 2008 judgment begins to have an effect
In its judgment of 25 January 2008, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) had annulled the EUCC’s urban development charges insofar as they included water supply and waste collection expenses.
After several months of disagreement over how to implement the ruling, the Town Council and the EUCC sign an agreement concerning drinking water and waste services on 10 September 2009.
Under the agreement, the Town Council takes responsibility for waste collection and for collecting water and waste charges. The EUCC retains technical responsibilities for the water network, including daily chlorination checks, repairs and maintenance.
If water revenues exceed ordinary expenses, the agreement provides for a repair and maintenance subsidy capped at that surplus. It does not provide for all collected revenues to be passed back to the EUCC after deducting only BASE’s administration fees.
This division of tasks does not amount to the formal acceptance of the entire development by the municipality.
Land readjustment becomes essential
Final approval of the project also requires a land readjustment scheme, known as reparcelación, to be prepared before work can begin.
The procedure is intended to establish the actual areas and boundaries of the properties, correct any discrepancies with cadastral records or title deeds, and set the coefficients used to allocate the urban development costs.
As early as January, the Governing Council discusses a new topographical survey, with an estimated cost of €88,000 to €111,000. By the end of the year, a legal report commissioned by the Town Council confirms the need for land readjustment and an accurate survey of the plots.
The scheme could directly change each owner’s financial contribution. It therefore becomes as important as the agreement itself.
Renewed approval does not end the dispute
On 9 August 2009, the General Assembly considers the requested technical changes and the expenditure needed to update the project.
Owners representing 49.82% of the total land area approve the additional expenditure and reaffirm their intention to sign the agreement. Votes against represent 4.62%.
The result confirms support from a substantial proportion of the property owners, but it does not resolve the appeal against the 2008 assembly.
The agreement is expected to be signed before 1 November. The signing is then delayed by five new provisions concerning a €7 million cap on the cost of the work and expenses relating to electricity, water and the telephone network.
By the end of the year, the available documents still do not establish that the urban development agreement has been signed.
Three matters now following separate paths
The picture at the end of 2009 is therefore mixed. The urban development project has received final approval, but the agreement remains disputed and the documents available at year-end do not establish that it has been signed. A separate agreement divides water and waste management responsibilities between the Town Council and the EUCC, without constituting formal acceptance of the entire development. Meanwhile, preparations for land readjustment add another matter concerning property boundaries and the allocation of costs.
These three procedures now move forward separately. Their overlap explains why approval of the project does not, by itself, clarify the future of Planes del Rei.
A new stage begins in 2010 with the urban development agreement and the switch to the cooperation system. The land readjustment procedure, prepared at the end of 2009, formally opens on 6 July 2011.
La Tribune de Planas
Documents
- Draft urban development agreement between Pratdip Town Council and the EUCC, in Spanish ;
- Minutes of the Governing Council meeting of 27 August 2008, in Spanish ;
- Minutes of the Governing Council meeting of 5 January 2009, in Spanish ;
- Final approval of the urban development project for Planes del Rei, in Catalan ;
- EUCC letter of 17 April 2009, in Spanish ;
- Legal opinion issued by Miquel Colom Canal on 7 May 2009, in Spanish ;
- Minutes of the General Assembly of 9 August 2009, in Spanish ;
- Agreement of 10 September 2009 concerning drinking water and waste services, in Spanish ;
- Minutes of the Governing Council meeting of 5 November 2009, in Spanish ;
- Report of 15 November 2009 on the need for land readjustment, in Catalan.
