The Plenary of the Town Council of Mazarrón has unanimously approved to initiate the forced expropriation of the General System of Free Spaces in the protection area of Percheles at the proposal of the deputy mayor and councillor for Urbanism, Ginés Campillo, as reported by municipal sources in a statement.
Campillo referred to the degradation suffered by the natural environment for more than four years due to the unlicensed parking activity carried out by one of the owners of the area, “repeatedly depriving users of access to the beach, erecting a fence and a beach bar without any permission to be executed”.
In this sense, the mayor of Urbanism has pointed out that “irreparable damage is being caused to the coastal area of Mazarrón in this enclave and it is time to initiate something more forceful”.
Faced with this situation, Campillo agreed with the technical services of his council to initiate proceedings for the forced expropriation of the environment, relying on the General Urban Development Plan of Mazarrón (PGOU) that delimits, for its great environmental, archaeological and landscape value, an area of protectionist character for the area of Percheles.
In this area there is a convergence of public woodland with small private properties whose land is not suitable for development and, furthermore, has different degrees of protection (environmental, archaeological and landscape, among others). It should be noted that in this area of the Cañada de Gallego district there are three archaeological sites: Cueva de Percheles, Cueva Medieval de Percheles and Villa de la Playa de Percheles.
In addition, there is a large strip of land that runs parallel to the coast and is classified as General Systems of Open Spaces (SGEL) for the use and recreation of the inhabitants of Mazarrón, since the objectives pursued by this cataloguing of the land are “the protection of the environment in a comprehensive manner; protection of the landscape and vegetation; the natural fauna; the improvement of environmental conditions; protection of cultural heritage and the goods that are part of the archaeological sites”, as explained by the technical team of the Department of Urbanism.
This strip of land is almost entirely in public ownership. Seven plots remain in private hands, which currently limit, to varying degrees, the use of this large open space for the municipality. In addition, a certain area is the only access to Percheles Beach and a natural pier.
In order to achieve the objectives set out in the PGOU and “to avoid interference that disturbs the public and protectionist nature of the area”, the technical reports consider the acquisition of the privately owned land, which comprises an area of 46,654.81 square metres affected by the expropriation, to be “of vital importance”.
