A municipal document preserved in the archives of Planas del Rey sets out a particularly ambitious project: to organise the redevelopment of the whole of Planes del Rei, enable Pratdip Town Council subsequently to formally take over the works, and pave the way for the dissolution of the Urban Development Conservation Entity (EUCC).
The text is presented as a proposal for a Town Council resolution aimed at giving initial approval to an “Urban Development Cooperation Agreement with the EUCC of Planes del Rei for the control and monitoring of the redevelopment works”.
This distinction is important: the document describes the proposed mechanism in considerable detail, but it still contains several blank fields, including the date of signature, and expressly provides for a period of public consultation following its initial approval.
It should therefore be read as the proposed urban-planning and financial framework intended to lead to the formal takeover of Planas del Rey, rather than as proof that all the measures described were ultimately approved and carried out exactly as planned.
The stated objective: redevelop, formally take over, then dissolve the EUCC
The document recalls that the EUCC had been created in the late 1980s to carry out, among other tasks, the conservation, maintenance and use of the development’s common services.
But it now goes much further by setting out an objective intended to bring this transitional situation to an end.
Pratdip Town Council and the EUCC state that they have decided to undertake the necessary works so that the municipality can finally accept the development and the EUCC can subsequently be dissolved.
The text also states that the Town Council accepts ownership, subject to the exceptions provided for in the agreement, of the land, works, installations, infrastructure and other common services of Planes del Rei. These must, however, first be brought into line with the applicable standards before they can be formally taken over and maintained by the municipality in the future.
In simple terms: the document does not say that Planas has already been formally taken over. It describes the route intended to lead to that takeover: upgrading the infrastructure, carrying out the works, municipal acceptance, and then dissolution of the EUCC.
The chosen system is cooperation
The document states that Pratdip’s Municipal Urban Development Plan provides for a cooperation system in Planes del Rei.
Under this system, Pratdip Town Council is responsible for organising and carrying out the urban development works in accordance with the applicable regulations.
The property owners, however, are required to bear the cost.
The expenses include:
- the full cost of the works;
- preparation of the technical project;
- site supervision;
- the health and safety study.
In simple terms: the Town Council becomes responsible for directing the execution process, but the financing falls mainly on the property owners.
The EUCC must continue maintaining the existing services while the works are under way
The document provides that, from the signing of the agreement until completion of the works, the EUCC remains responsible for maintaining the existing services.
Property owners must therefore continue paying the corresponding maintenance charges throughout this period.
There is, however, an important exception concerning drinking water and waste collection.
The document refers directly to the judgment of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia of 25 January 2008 and states that the Town Council assumes management of these services, without this meaning that it immediately becomes the owner of the installations before the redevelopment works are formally taken over.
This arrangement follows on from the September 2009 agreement between Pratdip and the EUCC concerning water and waste services.
In simple terms: during the transitional period, responsibilities remain shared: the EUCC continues to maintain much of the existing infrastructure, while the Town Council becomes directly involved in certain services.
A redevelopment project under municipal responsibility
The Town Council is required to approve the redevelopment project in accordance with the legally established procedures.
Any amendments and supplementary projects are to be examined within a Monitoring Committee made up of representatives of the Town Council and the EUCC.
Where the two parties fail to reach agreement, however, the document provides that the final decision rests with the municipality, which must act in the general interest of the development.
The Town Council also undertakes, where necessary, to amend its Municipal Urban Development Plan to make it compatible with the agreed redevelopment project.
A turnkey contract and a €7 million threshold
The project provides for the works to be awarded through an open tendering procedure.
The contract is to be awarded on a turnkey basis, meaning that the successful contractor assumes the risks and contingencies associated with execution and, in principle, may not increase the agreed price.
The document also sets a decisive financial threshold: if no company agrees to carry out the works for less than €7 million, the amount envisaged for the urban development project, the procedure must be suspended.
The EUCC’s governing board must then convene a meeting of the property owners so that a new decision can be taken.
In simple terms: the €7 million figure is not necessarily the final cost of the works. In this document it represents a threshold above which the proposed procedure had to be reconsidered.
The property owners are to finance the works in stages
The document lays down a specific timetable for payment of the works by the property owners.
At the time the contract is awarded, they are required to finance the entire engineering project and 35% of the cost of the works.
A further payment of 15% is due twelve months after the official start of the works, followed by another 15% after eighteen months.
The remaining amount needed to reach 100% of the final cost is to be paid at the time of final acceptance of the development.
In the event of non-payment, the document authorises the Town Council to use the legal procedures for enforced collection and seizure.
A Monitoring Committee is to oversee the project
The project creates a Monitoring Committee intended to operate from the signing of the agreement until the dissolution of the EUCC.
It is to receive information on matters including:
- amendments to the project;
- supplementary works;
- contract awards;
- invoices and payments;
- acceptance of the works;
- final settlement of the project;
- guarantees;
- any possible liabilities of the successful contractor.
Its decisions are not, however, binding on the Town Council.
The document also states that this Monitoring Committee is independent of the right of property owners to establish an Administrative Cooperation Association.
This reference is particularly interesting because it shows that, within the cooperation system, a specific form of organisation for property owners was already being considered.
Formal acceptance of the works is intended to trigger municipal responsibility
Probably the most important part of the document appears at the end of the proposed mechanism.
Once the works have been formally accepted, the Town Council is to take over the land, works, infrastructure, installations and other common services of the development.
The document then provides for the dissolution of the EUCC.
It also states that the Town Council undertakes to accept the completed works and incorporate them fully into the municipal estate.
More significantly, the text provides that an express or tacit acceptance of the works would automatically give rise to the Town Council’s obligation to conserve and maintain the development and would trigger, ex officio, the procedure for dissolving the EUCC.
In simple terms: under the mechanism described in this agreement, formal acceptance is the turning point. Before it, the EUCC continues to play an important role. After it, conservation and maintenance are intended to pass to the Town Council and the EUCC is intended to disappear.
An ambitious document, but one that still describes a process to be carried out
This project represents an important stage in the chronology of Planas del Rey.
For the first time among the documents examined from this period, the proposed mechanism is particularly structured: the Town Council organises the works, the property owners finance them, the EUCC maintains the existing services while the works are carried out, and the Town Council subsequently accepts the development and the EUCC is dissolved.
However, this mechanism should not be confused with its actual implementation.
The published document is still presented as a “proposal for a resolution”, provides for initial approval followed by a period of public consultation, and contains several incomplete sections.
It therefore shows in considerable detail what was being proposed as a way out of the transitional situation, but later documents will be needed to determine to what extent this programme was ultimately approved, implemented, amended or abandoned.
Jim – La Tribune de Planas
Translated summary of the key passages of the document
On the general objective of the agreement
Pratdip Town Council and the EUCC of Planes del Rei state that they have decided to undertake the necessary redevelopment works so that the municipality can finally accept the development and subsequently proceed with the dissolution of the EUCC, which had until then performed a transitional management role.
The Town Council states that it accepts ownership, subject to the exceptions provided for in the agreement, of the land, works, installations, infrastructure and other common services of the development. These elements must, however, be brought into line with the applicable standards before they can be formally accepted and maintained by the Town Council in the future.
On the cooperation system
Pratdip’s Municipal Urban Development Plan provides for the cooperation system. Within this framework, Pratdip Town Council is to carry out the works in accordance with the applicable urban-planning regulations.
The property owners of Planes del Rei are required to finance the expenses arising from the urban development works, including the full cost of the works, preparation of the technical project, site supervision, and the health and safety study.
On the situation during the works
From the signing of the agreement until completion of the works, the EUCC Planes del Rei remains responsible for maintaining the existing services, and the property owners must continue paying the corresponding charges.
In accordance with the TSJC judgment of 25 January 2008, the Town Council assumes management of waste collection and drinking-water supply services, without this meaning that it becomes the owner of the installations before the redevelopment works are formally accepted.
On the €7 million threshold
The works are to be awarded through an open procedure and under a turnkey contract.
If no company agrees to carry out the works for less than €7 million, the amount envisaged for the urban development project, the procedure must be suspended and the governing board must convene a meeting of the property owners so that a new decision can be taken.
On formal acceptance and dissolution of the EUCC
Once the works have been formally accepted, the Town Council is to take over the land, works, infrastructure, installations and other common services of the development and subsequently proceed with the dissolution of the EUCC.
The Town Council undertakes to accept the completed works and incorporate them fully into the municipal estate.
Express or tacit acceptance of the works is intended automatically to trigger Pratdip Town Council’s obligation to conserve and maintain the development, as well as the ex officio opening of the procedure for dissolving the EUCC.
On the Monitoring Committee
A Monitoring Committee is to operate from the signing of the agreement until the dissolution of the EUCC.
It is to be informed of amendments to the project, supplementary works, contract awards, invoices and payments, acceptance and settlement of the works, release of guarantees and any possible liabilities of the contractor.
The existence of this Committee is independent of the right of property owners to establish an Administrative Cooperation Association in accordance with urban-planning legislation.
