There are optimistic mutterings that the approval yesterday of the partial adaptation of the PGOU (General Plan) to the LOUA (Urban Development Act of Andalucia) will pave the way for the reclassification of the land ceded for a new Health Centre and, as a consequence, reignite the project.
The Health Centre project began in 2003 and since then has undergone numerous changes relating to venue, financing and even type of facility to be built. The initial agreement in 2003 on financing was for 50% to be funded by the Ministry of Health and 50% by the Council. The Council, however, later refused to contribute and the Ministry of Health subsequently agreed to fund the project in its entirety.
The eventual site chosen for the Health Centre is a plot of land behind the Mercadona supermarket, down by the rio Chillar. This land first had to be ‘acquired’ as it was privately owned.
However, the land is classified under the existing PGOU as being for educational purposes and needs to be reclassified in order for the Health Centre project to commence. The infrastructure in the area around the site has already been completed.
There may indeed be light at the end of the tunnel, but it could be an oncoming train as the Nerja PGOU still has to be published in the Official Gazette and has to be approved by the Junta de Andalucia.
The approval of the partial adaptation of the PGOU to the LOUA has taken two years, a delay criticised by the opposition PSOE and IU. The timing is certainly such that all parties should be able to get their teeth into it for election purposes.
The one aspect which always baffles me, and this applies to many municipalities, not just Nerja, is why do councils decide, for example, to build an airport and then allocate land legally suitable for the construction of a garden shed?
Granted there are rather a lot of acronymns to take into account – PGOU, LOUA, POTA etc – when proposing a project, but surely it would be simpler to sit down with all the documents and work out exactly what can be built and where before announcing the start of the project. Would save a lot of anguish, as well as money.
It might also help to check whether money is actually available for a project before making any announcement, as in the case of the Fire Station.