The GOB demands the stop to rampant urbanisation

According to the Grup Balear d'Ornitologia i Defensa de la Naturalesa (GOB), the lack of action by the Balearic Government in connection to urbanism, endangers the preservation of natural resources. The ecologists demand urgent action from the local Minister for Public Works of the Balearic Government as all the alarms are ringing exaggeratedly, especially those refering to water, energy, waste, infrastructure and massification.

Both in the different electoral programmes and the Pact signed by the parties in the Government priority was given to setting up measures to stablize urban pressure and in the investiture speech by President Antich, definite measures were announced to detain the rampant growth. According to the GOB in reality no kind of measure has been taken. Neither definite, nor temporary, except those that were adopted in October affecting natural areas.

In fact, the document for the Progress Pact considered the following legislation:

· Reform of the Directrices de Ordenación Territorial

· Elaboration of a new Land Law

· Reconsideration of the Law of Rustic Land to guarantee its agricultural, rural and natural vocation.

· Moratorium in the authorisation of golf courses while the Directive Plan for golf courses is being created.

· Moratorium in the authorisation of Marinas until the Territorial Plan for each island is approved.

According to the GOB, nearly all the laws that the Government announced they would create still need to be finished. This means that their approval and subsequent execution can be delayed for months or years. Therefore the ecological association demands that the maximum urgency and valor should be used to elaborate or reform a group of urban and territorial laws with a view to creating the legal basis for a new territorial model and it proposes measures for:

· restricting the possibilities of building on urban land, especially in connection to multifamily buildings, apartments and hotels.

· establishing annual "numerus clausus" approved by each Town Council.

· freezing the urban land that does not have the classification of plots.

· suspension of urban land that does not have an approved plot plan.

· parallisation of authorisation and construction of golf courses.

· moratorium en la construcción de puertos deportivos

PHOTO: The Son Lluís property, in Sa Coma Calenta in Andratx. Taken today by the opinion group Terra Nostra that on several occasions has denuunced the destruction suffered by the Serra de Tramuntana.

Date of publication: 19/04/2000

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