ARCHIVED - Another piece of the Camposol planning irregularities jigsaw falls into place

The Supreme Court exonerates the Town Council of Mazarrón of responsibility for allowing the building of houses on the riverbed of the Rambla de los Aznares on Sector D of the Camposol development

The issue of building over and around the Rambla de los Aznares rambla issue has been blighting the administrative progress and causing physical problems in Camposol for years, as witnessed by the flooding in 2014. Since work started on Sector D in 2003, there has been much finger pointing and confusion due to the constructor Justo y Manoli SL (Grupo MASA) building homes on the course of the river bed and a protected area which extends 110 metres either side of the rambla route.

Over the years the national government body CHS have accused Mazarrón Town Council of allowing developer Justo y Manoli to build villas and infrastructures on the Aznares riverbed, which is government land and a natural flood plain and on October 20 2017, after the Murcia Regional Assembly had started their investigations, the National Council of Ministers at the request of CHS attributed responsibility to Mazarrón Town Council for the urbanisation works in the “El Saladillo” Plan Parcial (Camposol urbanisation) with an accompanying fine of €1,000,000 plus €3,569,239 as compensation for damages to the Public Hydraulic Domain (government land).

However, Mazarrón Town Council has always claimed that it notified both the developer and CHS of the presence of a riverbed and in the last two years has tried to demonstrate the absence of responsibility on the part of the Council for the illegal building on the Rambla de los Aznares. Specifically, they state that the Mazarrón Municipal Technical Architect, after inspection visits made on December 20 to 26, 2003, reported that;

1.- The works executed do not coincide with those that appear in the urbanisation project.

2.- The layout of the roads and the roundabouts do not coincide.

3.- The Rambla de los Aznares has been channelled, without being included in the urbanisation project and without the corresponding authorisation from the Hydrographic Confederation (CHS)”. As a result of these inspections Mazarrón Town Council suspended the granting of licences.

In their appeal Mazarrón Council also pointed out that the CHS's own “Guarda Mayor Fluvial – Zone -3” (Head River Warden) stated in a report dated October 22, 2004 that “It appears in the place known as El Saladillo, according to the project presented and signed by the architect Mr. Enrique Centelles Forner, I have to inform you that said plan does not affect any channel, remaining in any case outside the police zone”.

The Appeal held in the Supreme Court’s Contentious-Administrative Chamber, judgment number 920/2022, dated July 5, 2022, upheld the contentious-administrative appeal filed by the Mazarrón Town Council, annulling the Agreement of the Council of Ministers of October 20, 2017 and ordering the CHS to pay the costs.

It has yet to be seen how this will impact the recently convened “Round table” initiated to address the rambla situation. The Mazarrón Town Hall Councillor for Camposol, Silvana Buxton, stated “Hopefully this will provide light to what has been a grey area and assist in finding solutions to an ongoing and previously complex situation”.

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