Nerja Council is to lodge an appeal against the TSJA ruling that it must pay compensation of €630,304.06 plus interest relating to the expropriation of lands for the construction of the proposed water treatment plant.
The land in question was expropriated by the Council and compensation was based upon it being classified as ‘rustic’. However, the TSJA ruled that the land was classified as ‘general’ under the current PGOU (General Plan) and that compensation should have been considerably higher.
The TSJA, the Superior Court of Justice of Andalucia, has ordered Nerja Town Hall to pay €630,304.06 plus interest, which may amount to €900,000, to the company Maravillas del Mar S.A. relating to the expropriation of lands for the proposed water treatment plant.
It seems that in 2002, the Council expropriated the land in question for the future construction of the water treatment plant. The company were ‘compensated’ at a rate of €12.02 per square metre for the land and this figure was based on ‘rustic’ status.
However, according to the Court, the Nerja PGOU lists the land as ‘urban’ or ‘general’, and therefore developable, meaning that the correct compensation rate should have been €83 per square metre. A slight difference.
Maravillas del Mar S.A. were claiming a higher amount of compensation taking into account the loss of value of other lands held by the company in the same area but this was rejected by the Court.