Call to end reliance on residential tourism
‘ Rational town planning’ has to put before property speculation
THE REGIONAL government’s Plan Vega Renhace to regenerate the Vega Baja area has concerned associations of ecologists and residents who fear some of its proposals are unsustainable.
The friends of south Alicante wetlands ( AHSA), friends of the Sierra Escalona ( ASE), Ecologístas en Acción, Democracia en Verde and San Miguel Arcángel residents’ association issued a joint statement after attending last week’s presentation of the plan.
They argue that sustainability and the circular economy should be the criteria to make the area more resilient to the consequences of climate change, such as last September’s catastrophic flooding.
Continued reliance on residential tourism puts profits from property speculation above rational town planning, sustainable management of land and conservation of natural and cultural heritage, they claim.
They had been hoping the plan would establish some kind of limit to new urban developments. Instead it calls for tourism
based promotion and governance of the Vega Baja, as well as boosting residential tourism, albeit within sustainable growth objectives, saying that it generates employment and wealth, quality and innovation, and helps to attract visitors all- year- round.
The ecologists insist the area needs a type of tourism that does not occupy so much land, reminding that building en masse of second homes has had a serious negative impact on traditional farmland, protected wetlands such as La Mata- Torrevieja natural park and mountain areas like the Sierra Escalona.
These zones have been ‘ brutally sacrificed’ for an ‘ outdated form of development which has already done enough damage’, they claim.
“Beach, rural and cultural tourism need to be supported by temporary accommodation infrastructure that is respectful of the land and the values that could attract people to the area in the future,” they said.
Their other principal concern was the determination to find a new route for the CV- 95 between Orihuela and Torrevieja so that the busy road could be converted into a dual carriageway.
The ecologists suspect this would lead to yet more residential development around the new road.
They suggest it would be better to improve the current road and make it safer and to strengthen public transport in the area, rather than to increase unsustainable private traffic.
“Ending the toll motorway concession on the underused AP- 7 would improve communications between Orihuela and its coast, Torrevieja and Pilar de la Horadada without building any new road,” they noted.
The associations concluded that the plan has ‘ little or nothing’ about green corridors along the irrigation waterways, protecting farmland or the need to establish flood balancing zones.
“When it comes to occupying land, we hope that in the end sustainability and rationality will matter more than private economic interests that seem to want nothing to change in the area after the flood,” they added.