The Municipal Assembly of Loulé, gathered in an extraordinary session last Friday, approved the union of the parishes of Querença, Tôr and Benafim, within the scope of the territorial administrative reorganization of the Municipality, in accordance with the provisions of Law 22/2012.
The reclassification of S. Sebastião as a rural parish will also make it possible to go from 11 to 9 parishes, as opposed to the linear application of the law that would reduce the municipality of Loulé to 8 parishes.
The Social and Parish Center of Loulé had a full house, with more than half a thousand people who wanted to participate in this Municipal Assembly.
The PSD bench presented a proposal that had the favorable vote of the majority of the deputies of the Municipal Assembly. This proposal, which will now be sent to the Assembly of the Republic for analysis, involves the aggregation of the three parishes of the so-called Alto Barrocal and that form a horizontal geographic line between the mountains and the urban area of the municipality: Querença, Tôr and Benafim.
"The territories in question are rural-based and have similar ties of affinity and intrinsic characteristics identical from a geographical, social, historical, community and tourist point of view," stresses the Loulé City Council in a press release.
The fact that these are low-density areas will allow them to continue to be channeled to applications for community funds there. Thus, the proponents of this union believe that «the aggregation of these parishes represents the creation of an entity with the capacity to manage in an integrated and transversal way the 'high barrocal' of the Municipality of Loulé, providing a privileged interlocutor for this low-density area, creating for the first time a management of the 'alto barrocal' area, which could be an example of aggregation taking into account the possibility of raising community funds».
But more than a mere union, «this proposal points to the creation of an important future development pole in the region since, at the moment, it is here that two of the biggest tourist projects in the interior of the Algarve are underway. Between Querença and Tôr, the Quinta da Ombria development and in Benafim the Vale do Freixo, Golf & Country Estate», adds the municipality.
There are also “organic relationships” between the three parishes proposed to be added. On the one hand, Querença and Tôr were a single parish until 1997. On the other hand, Benafim and Querença have a joint association for the management of relief vehicles (ambulances) – Associação Bemequer.
This municipality, which will be renamed as the Union of Parishes of Querença, Tôr and Benafim, will have its formal headquarters in Largo da Igreja de Querença, in the current building of the Junta de Querença.
However, the buildings of all the parish offices remain, with employees and structures, and this is where the customers will continue to take care of their business.
The approved document also proposes that the operational headquarters rotate every four years, corresponding to each municipal mandate. Thus, in the 2013/17 term he presides over Tôr, in 2017/21 Benafim and in the 2021/25 term it will be Querença's turn.
The new parish maintains the current limits, being abolished the border limits between the parishes to be added.
Parish of S. Sebastião reclassified as non-urban
A second aspect of this proposal approved by the Assembly involves the classification of the parish of S. Sebastião as a non-urban place.
The parish of S. Sebastião holds 9,4% of the companies located in the municipality, with the majority of these companies belonging to the services and agricultural sectors, employing 7,4% of the total number of workers and 9,4% of establishments.
On the other hand, this parish, in its role as a "hinging" territory and being called a traditional unit of the barrocal, plays an important role in population flows from the interior to the coast, with the parish having an urban area of 17 km2. it is far surpassed by the 50 km2 of rural area.
Finally, it should be noted that this parish has a low population density in the order of 39,6 inhabitants/km2, accounting for 10,5% of the total population of the Municipality, and that in the various sites of its rural area there are more than 60 inhabitants. % of the population of the parish.
The process will now be submitted for analysis and subsequent approval by the Assembly of the Republic and only then will it be completed.
When this new territorial administrative reorganization takes effect, the municipality of Loulé will be made up of nine parishes: Alte, Ameixial, Boliqueime, Salir, S. Sebastião, Union of Parishes of Querença Tôr and Benafim (non-urban parishes), Almancil, Quarteira and S. Clemente (urban parishes).
From the opposition parties, minority in the Municipal Assembly, it has already pronounced against these decisions the Left Block.
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