Loulé City Council is going to suspend the Municipal Master Plan (PDM) on the 1,3-hectare plot, where the fruit market takes place every Wednesday, right in the center of Quarteira. The aim is to prevent further developments from being built in an area where the concrete is already king and lord, to advance, instead, with the creation of green spaces and conviviality.
The proposal to adopt these preventive measures (which are nothing more than suspending, in effect, the PDM) will be taken to the Chamber meeting next Wednesday, September 4th. But, with the clear socialist majority in the Loulé autarchy (7 councilors against 2 in the PSD), it is taken for granted that it will be approved.
This is an area that already has a long history of urbanization proposals. It was for that land that the construction of buildings was planned, as well as the Quarteira Cultural Center, in a project by the famous architect Eduardo Souto Moura, even when the Chamber was led by Seruca Emídio (PSD).
It is certain that the enterprise never got to progress. “Fortunately for us”, he insisted on saying Vítor Aleixo, mayor of Loulé, at the press conference for the presentation of this proposal to suspend the PDM.
The municipality even tried to buy the land, but this was not possible. However, until September 10, a public auction will take place and the Chamber will also not be able to carry out the transaction there.
«We are guided by the assessments made by the experts and our proposal was much lower than the values for which the land is on the market», said Heloísa Madeira, councilor with the responsibility of Planning and Urban Management.
What is certain is that, if this suspension is approved, in the Municipal Assembly of Loulé (and it should because the PS also has a majority), the private person who manages to buy the land will know that he will not be able to build there. And that greatly devalues the price.
«The city grew and this land remained there, as an expectant and very attractive area for real estate activity. But, with the city's growth, this land gained the characteristic of being able to serve as an urban decompression space», said Vítor Aleixo.
In the opinion of the mayor, «cities cannot have buildings built in every square meter», something that is very visible in Quarteira. “There must be space for gardens, social areas, places where it is possible to organize important activities for the community”, he considered.
That is the philosophy for that territory: to create green areas, spaces for people to enjoy and, perhaps, a parking lot. All this without eliminating the weekly Wednesday market at that location.
Vítor Aleixo has no doubts that this is a “historic decision”. «Everyone wants this territory, which is extremely valuable in terms of tourism. We believe that, if we didn't suspend the PDM, Quarteira would lose the last opportunity to re-qualify itself from the point of view of urban harmony that any city should have», he also said.
Strictly speaking, this suspension will last for two years, with the possibility of an extension for another one, ending with the entry into force of the revision of the PDM, whose work is still ongoing.
During the suspension period, allotment operations and urbanization, construction, expansion, alteration and reconstruction works, as well as land remodeling works are prohibited.
And why choose this space to take these measures? The councilor of the Loulé Chamber explained that the decision was taken "in the context of the studies that we have collected in the revision of the PDM".
«These lands were identified as the only ones, either by location or size, that still had the conditions to be integrated into an urban ecological structure that is essential for the cities of the future», referred Heloísa Madeira.
After having suspended the PDM in an area of about 234 hectares, in the wetland of Foz do Almargem and Trafal, hindering the advance of yet another tourist resort, this is the second decision of its kind taken by the Municipality of Loulé.
The objective was, in both situations, “to safeguard the public interest of this city”, concluded Vítor Aleixo.
Comments