On 26 March 2013, Administrative Court nº 1 of Tarragona issued judgment nº 130/2013 in proceedings brought by several property owners in Planas del Rey against the Urban Development Conservation Entity (EUCC) and Pratdip Town Council.
Among their requests was a question that was essential for the future of the development: the dissolution of the EUCC.
The court refused to dissolve it.
Its reasoning was mainly based on one finding: the urban development works had not yet been formally handed over to Pratdip Town Council and were not considered complete.
In simple terms: in 2013, the court considered that as long as the development remained unfinished and had not been formally handed over to the Town Council, the EUCC had to continue to exist.
What were the property owners asking for?
The proceedings had begun in 2010.
The property owners made several requests concerning the situation of Planas del Rey. Among other things, they challenged certain decisions relating to the development and asked for:
- the dissolution of the EUCC;
- Pratdip Town Council to take responsibility for certain public services, particularly drinking water and waste collection;
- the reimbursement of certain charges paid for those services;
- the annulment of several decisions taken in connection with the urban development management of Planas del Rey.
The court did not examine all these requests in the same way. Some were declared inadmissible for procedural reasons.
However, it did examine the central question of dissolving the EUCC and the request for the Town Council to take responsibility for certain services.
For the court, Planas had not yet been formally handed over to the Town Council
After examining the documents in the case, the court reached a conclusion that it considered decisive: the urban development works had not been formally handed over to Pratdip Town Council.
The judgment also explains that the fact that the Town Council owned certain roads or plots of land was not enough to establish that the development as a whole had been formally handed over.
This distinction is important.
In simple terms: owning certain pieces of land and formally taking over all the infrastructure of a development are two different things.
Works and services still remained to be completed
The court also examined the planning documents in force at the time.
Pratdip’s Municipal Urban Development Plan (POUM) provided for a further urban development project in Planas del Rey to address shortcomings in the works and services needed to complete the development properly.
The judgment also recalls that the urban development project had been approved in 2009 and that the Town Council and the EUCC had subsequently organised a process intended to carry out the necessary works.
For the court, these elements showed that in 2013 the urban development process in Planas del Rey was still not considered complete.
The court refuses to apply the five-year limit
The property owners also relied on a provision of Catalan urban-planning law stating that an obligation imposed on owners to conserve and maintain a development could not continue beyond a certain period.
The legislation provided, in particular, for a limit of five years.
However, in 2013 the court considered that this limit did not justify dissolving the EUCC of Planas del Rey.
According to its interpretation, the rule could not apply in this case because the development had not yet been formally handed over to the Town Council and the works were not complete.
The court therefore considered that the EUCC had to continue carrying out its role.
In simple terms: for the Tarragona court, the unfinished state of Planas still justified maintaining the EUCC, despite the many years that had passed since its creation.
The Town Council is not required to take over the requested services immediately
The court also rejected the request to require Pratdip Town Council, within these proceedings, to take responsibility for certain public services in Planas del Rey.
Its reasoning was linked to the same situation: the works were not complete and the development had not yet been formally handed over to the municipality.
The 2013 judgment therefore maintained the system that existed at that time.
The property owners appeal
The property owners disagreed with the court’s interpretation.
They therefore decided to appeal the judgment.
On 28 June 2013, a court document confirmed that the appeal had been lodged and that the case was being transferred to the Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia.
This appeal would prove decisive.
Three years later, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia issued its judgment of 21 July 2016.
This time, the TSJC adopted a different interpretation of the five-year limit and declared the dissolution of the EUCC of Planas del Rey.
In simple terms: what the Tarragona court refused in 2013 would finally be granted by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia in 2016.
Why is the 2013 judgment important?
This judgment is important because it helps us understand the legal debate that followed.
In 2013, the reasoning was as follows:
- the urban development works in Planas del Rey were not complete;
- the development had not been formally handed over to the Town Council;
- the EUCC therefore had to continue to exist.
The property owners challenged precisely this reasoning.
They argued that a situation intended to be temporary could not be used to maintain indefinitely a conservation entity financed by the property owners.
This is the issue that the TSJC would eventually decide in their favour in 2016.
What should be remembered
The main points of the judgment of 26 March 2013 can be summarised simply:
- several property owners asked for the EUCC to be dissolved;
- the court found that the urban development works were not complete and that Planas had not been formally handed over to the Town Council;
- it considered that this situation still justified maintaining the EUCC;
- it therefore refused to dissolve it;
- the property owners appealed;
- in 2016, the TSJC would overturn this part of the judgment and finally declare the dissolution of the EUCC.
In simple terms: the 2013 judgment kept the EUCC in place because Planas was considered unfinished. The 2016 judgment would establish that this situation could not justify maintaining it indefinitely.
Jim – La Tribune de Planas
Translated summary of the key passages of the judgment
On the formal handover of the development to the Town Council
After examining all the documentation in the case and the evidence submitted, the court concludes that the urban development works had not been formally handed over to the Town Council.
The fact that the Town Council may own certain roads as a result of property disputes is not sufficient to establish that the urban development works and land had been formally handed over to it.
On the works still to be completed
Pratdip’s POUM provides for an urban development project for Planas del Rey addressing the shortcomings in the works and services required to complete the development properly.
On the five-year limit
The court considers that the five-year limit applying to certain conservation entities cannot lead to the dissolution of the EUCC of Planas del Rey because the development had not yet been formally handed over to the Town Council and the urban development works were not complete.
On the final decision
Taking into account the applicable legislation and the situation of the development, the court considers that there are no grounds to dissolve the EUCC or to uphold the request requiring the Town Council to take responsibility for certain public services.
