On February 23, 2009, the authorized secretary of the Town Hall of Pratdip certified the adoption by the Junta de Govern Local of the final approval of the urbanization project of Planes del Rei (Planas del Rey), relating to the Action Unit (UA) and in accordance with the Normes Subsidiàries de Planejament. The act is part of the regulatory procedure (public information, technical reports, handling of allegations) and refers to the regulation of the functioning of local entities (art. 175).
1) Nature of the document
- Administrative act (and not a judgment), issued by the Town Hall of Pratdip.
- Purpose: to certify the official adoption of the final approval of the urbanization project.
- Procedure followed: initial approval, public information, reports from agencies, responses to allegations.
2) Purpose and scope of the approval
- Technical scope: compliance of the infrastructures (roads, networks, water, sanitation, lighting, etc.) of the UA Planes del Rei.
- Legal scope: the approval triggers an obligation of execution or implementation by the administration, a preliminary step to a possible reception of the works and the normalization of the status of the urbanization.
3) Administrative procedure followed
- Initial approval: May 28, 2008.
- Public information: 1 month (posting and consultations).
- Request to agencies: technical opinions (environment, fire safety, water, etc.).
- Allegations: reception of observations from individuals (e.g. Christian Peuman, Gonzalez, Bierwirth, Schmidt…).
4) Allegations from residents and municipal responses
- Issues raised: pipeline layouts, notifications, knowledge of the project, surfaces, justification of the system of action.
- Technical responses: the town hall points out that the project was drafted by the EUCC Les Planes del Rei and refers to this entity for the correction/adaptation of layouts and technical details; notifications are considered regular and technical compliance is assessed based on the reports.
5) Reports from external public bodies
- Fire prevention: safety strip of 25 m without vegetation around the urbanization; obligation of a self-protection plan.
- Agència Catalana de l’Aigua (ACA):
- Water supply: favorable opinion.
- Sanitation: unfavorable opinion; the existing system does not have a discharge authorization; the EUCC must request the autorització d’abocament with a complete technical file.
- Flood zone: not applicable.
- Assessment: the proposed system may be viable but must be regularized and authorized.
6) Legal effects of the approval
- Official recognition of the need for re-urbanization to regularize Planas del Rey (Planes del Rei).
- Obligation of execution: the administrative act approved by the Junta de Govern Local commits the administration to implement or have the project carried out.
- Non-execution: in case of non-implementation, exposure to a claim for inactivity and non-execution of its own acts.
- Evidentiary value: proof that the town hall had validated the re-urbanization as early as 2009; reinforces previous decisions (1993, 2004, 2006, 2008) on the municipal responsibility with regard to the minimum public services (art. 26 of Law 7/1985).
7) Critical observations
- Managed by the EUCC: the town hall de facto transfers the design and technical adjustments to the EUCC, positioning itself only in a supervisory role.
- Persistent irregularities: non-compliant sanitation, lack of discharge authorization, disputed notifications, uncertainties about certain basic services.
- Approval despite shortcomings: validation takes place without first regularizing all the technical and environmental points.
8) Practical consequences for residents
- EUCC recognized as the entity responsible for the material execution and financing of the works.
- Municipal strategy: tendency to avoid direct assumption of obligations, to the detriment of the owners.
- Risks: maintenance of a non-authorized sanitation system, exposure to risks (fires, environment), potential devaluation of property.
9) Strategic use of the document
- Administrative appeal: formal notice to execute the act approved in 2009; finding of inactivity.
- Contentious action: referral to the competent court for non-execution of the administrative act and culpable omission.
- Compensation: claim for damages (e.g. charges unduly borne, damages linked to the absence of public services).
- Communication: key document to publicly demonstrate that the town hall had already validated the re-urbanization and did not execute it.
10) Conclusion
The resolution of February 23, 2009 confirms the final approval of the urbanization project of Planes del Rei (Planas del Rey). It constitutes conclusive evidence of the municipal commitment to regularize the urbanization. The lack of execution since then reveals an administrative failure that can be invoked both in the context of legal actions and in a civic and associative strategy promoted by SOS Planas.
