On 19 March 2021, Pratdip Town Council met in an extraordinary session. Two matters appeared on the agenda: José Pescador taking office as a municipal councillor and the approval of an agreement concerning wastewater treatment.
The agreement was intended to support the preparation and financing of new facilities in several Baix Camp municipalities, including the village of Pratdip. However, the Planas del Rey wastewater treatment plant was not included.
The information presented in this article is based on a summary prepared by Avança Pratdip. This document describes the events and discussions as reported by that political group. It is not the official record of the Town Council meeting.
Participants in the Town Council meeting
According to Avança Pratdip’s summary, the following people attended the session:
- the municipal secretary;
- the mayor of Pratdip;
- José María Rovira, Jordi Pagan, Amadeu Pune and Toni Marco, councillors representing Junts per Catalunya;
- Glòria Moreno and José Pescador, councillors representing Avança Pratdip.
Two items on the agenda
The extraordinary session focused on two matters:
- José Pescador taking office as a municipal councillor;
- the approval of an agreement delegating responsibilities for wastewater treatment.
José Pescador takes office
José Pescador pledged to perform his duties as a municipal councillor in accordance with the Spanish Constitution and the law.
The Town Council unanimously approved his appointment.
An agreement concerning wastewater treatment
The second item concerned an agreement between the Consell Comarcal del Baix Camp and the municipalities of Arbolí, Capafonts, Maspujols, Pratdip and Vilanova d’Escornalbou.
Under this agreement, Pratdip Town Council would delegate certain responsibilities for wastewater treatment to the Consell Comarcal, including:
- drafting the technical project;
- studying the various possible solutions;
- preparing the operating rules for the facilities;
- organising the management of the service.
The Consell Comarcal would then conclude the necessary agreements with the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) to finance the studies and construction work.
Operation of the new facilities was to be entrusted to Comaigua.
A programme scheduled between 2022 and 2027
According to the information provided during the Town Council meeting and reported by Avança Pratdip, the ACA had scheduled funding for several wastewater treatment plants between 2022 and 2027.
The programme covered the municipalities named in the agreement and was intended, among other measures, to enable the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant for the village of Pratdip.
By contrast, the Planas del Rey wastewater treatment plant was not included in the programme.
No solution announced for Planas del Rey
Glòria Moreno and José Pescador asked the municipal government about the future of the Planas del Rey wastewater treatment plant.
According to their summary, they received no specific information concerning:
- bringing the existing facility back into operation;
- the preparation of technical studies;
- the development of a new project;
- the timetable for any possible action.
Avança Pratdip noted that the former treatment plant had been built with contributions from the property owners. The group believed that no concrete progress was being made at that time towards resolving the wastewater treatment problem in Planas del Rey.
This assessment reflects the position expressed by Avança Pratdip in its summary. It is not an official conclusion of the Town Council meeting.
Avança Pratdip votes against the agreement
Glòria Moreno and José Pescador voted against approving the agreement.
They were not necessarily challenging the need to improve wastewater treatment in the village of Pratdip and the other municipalities concerned. Their vote was primarily intended to protest against the absence of any announced solution for Planas del Rey.
The agreement therefore highlighted the difference between the projects planned for the village of Pratdip and the situation in its residential development, whose wastewater treatment plant remained outside the programme presented.
A problem already reported in 2019
The fact that the Planas del Rey wastewater treatment plant was not operating had already been known for several years.
In August 2019, an article about wastewater treatment in the Baix Camp reported that Pratdip was among the municipalities that still had no operational treatment plant. A few months later, SOS Planas publicly raised the alarm over the shutdown of the Planas del Rey facility and its health and environmental consequences.
Jim – La Tribune de Planas
Avança Pratdip’s summary
The document reproduced below is the Spanish-language summary prepared by Avança Pratdip following the extraordinary Town Council meeting of 19 March 2021. It provides direct access to the source on which this article is based.
