ARCHIVED - Architects recommend putting the brakes on the construction of 2,000 homes around the Mar Menor

25 proposals to protect the Mar Menor have been submitted to the Murcia government

As the regional government of Murcia continues to work on drawing up the new legislation which has been promised to protect the Mar Menor, the official College of Architects of Murcia has put forward a series of 25 measures which they propose should be included in the law.

Unsustainable urban development is one of the factors which has contributed to the deterioration in water quality in the Mar Menor over recent decades, with the diversion of water courses and the increase in the amount of tarmac and concrete causing more water to run off into the lagoon in times of heavy rain. Most analyses point to intensive crop farming and the use of fertilizers in the Campo de Cartagena as the single most important factor, but town planners, builders and the administrative bodies which have allowed over-development are also in the spotlight.

In this context the opinion of the architects is that a complete ban on all new construction activity around the Mar Menor is not necessary, but that any project undertaken should be required to meet certain criteria related to “social, economic and environmental sustainability”. For this reason they recommended that the brakes should be put on for current plans to build 2,000 homes in Los Belones, Los Urrutias, La Manga and other locations.

This, according to Juan Antonio Santa-Cruz of the College of Architects, can be done in line with legislation which is already supposedly in force, while his colleague María José Peñalver called for sectors such as agriculture, water sports and tourism to work together so that any new legislation is viable and far-reaching.

One of these is the large apartment block which is already under construction next to Playa Honda and Playa Paraíso, at the western edge of the abandoned salt flats of Marchamalo (a small part of which was recently purchased by the naturalists’ association ANSE). This construction project has progressed slowly but estate agents are still offering properties for sale in the development, and certainly the existence of such a large block so close to the shore of the Mar Menor is a very visual illustration of how little control has been exerted over building around the lagoon in the past.

Sr Santa-Cruz went on to stress the need for a radical change in the model of development around the Mar Menor and to question some of the foundations on which that development has been based in the past. Not only is a return to sustainable agriculture desirable, but in addition, in his opinion town planners need to think much more deeply about waste management and the treatment of waste water, beaches should not automatically and artificially regenerated and the idea of banning all motor boats should be seriously considered.

In addition, in terms of urban development the architects’ opinion is that Town Halls should no longer be acting individually in deciding how to develop: there should be a common policy adhered to by all.

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