ARCHIVED - Camposol Rambla diversion takes another turn and it is not a new one

The latest “Rambla Roundtable” meeting has thrown up another option not discussed in the previous meeting

The Rambla in question is the Rambla de los Aznares which is a dry river bed that has existed possibly for many thousands if not millions of years and runs through Sector D of the Camposol development, following a north to south path roughly parallel and to the east of what is now Calle Piteras. The rambla is infamous for the catastrophic flooding that occurred after a Gota fria in 2014.

It seems that at the time of planning the housing construction on sector D there was some confusion over whether Grupo MASA (the developer) enquired about possible rambla routes to the CHS but what is known is that MASA started to build dwellings on the course of the river bed, a protected area.

Attempts have been made to resolve the issue including a report and recommendations by the Regional Assembly and a proposed re-channelling of the rambla. The CHS also levied fines in 2017 on Mazarrón Council and MASA, possibly in an attempt to deflect blame and shield itself from liability, although these fines were overturned by the Regional Supreme Court on appeal by Mazarrón Council in July of this year and costs awarded against the CHS.

First Round Table meeting

The Round Table is a result of a Regional Assembly report on the Rambla issue in 2018, where a recommendation was made for it to be created for the relevant authorities to sit down and find a solution to the problem. It was constituted by Mazarrón Town Council in August 2019 but did not hold its first meeting until July 2022, partly as a result of COVID and partly because of a lack of response from the two senior authorities.

The relevant authorities are, Mazarrón Town Council, the Murcia Regional Government (CARM) and the Confederación Hidrográfica del Segura – the water infrastructures authority (CHS), a national government department – and these were joined in talks by the Camposol Residents Association at the first meeting, where Alternative 3 was chosen from various options for further study and evaluation.

However, this option raised concerns regarding the depth and amount of excavation to maintain the flow of water through the differing elevations as the route passes through the road infrastructure and close to many homes, raising apprehension about the effect on buildings and foundations. These concerns were to form part of the extra reports to be reviewed at a second meeting.

Alternative 4

At the second meeting in September, the Murcia Regional Government (CARM), who were unable to attended the first meeting, put forward Alternative 4 which in all likelihood is the option first tabled by the Regional Government’s Director General of Water, Sebastián Delgado, at a public meeting in May 2019. During that meeting Sr Delgado, who was accompanied by the then Mayoress Alicia Jiménez, presented the Alternative 4 project to a collection of Camposol residents including representatives from the Residents Association, D Sector Gardening Group, FAST and Campobus.

At the 2019 public meeting Mr Delgado explained that Alternative 4 would pass around the outskirts of the urbanisation outside the road infrastructure but inside the urbanisation boundary ,following the natural contours of the land. This option would have the benefits of not causing disruption during construction, eliminating the effect on nearby buildings, and a cost advantage (around 60% cheaper than Alternative 3).

To the surprise of many attending the meeting Alternative 4 was not mentioned again although the presentation was a week before the 2019 municipal elections and the assumption that it was an electioneering ploy. Despite repeated attempts to contact Mr Delgado, however, it now seems that Alternative 4 is now firmly back in the running.

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