On the 21st of May, the Administrative and Fiscal Court of Loulé granted an injunction filed by Almargem – Association for the Defense of Cultural and Environmental Heritage of the Algarve and the Associação Cívica Cidade da Participation, regarding the project planned for the urbanization of Alagoas Brancas, in the city of Lagoa.
Thus, both associations point out in a joint statement, "until there is a decision by the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR Algarve), all the work planned for the destruction of Alagoas Brancas is suspended."
In this injunction filed against the Municipality of Lagoa, having as a counter-interested company Edifícios Atlântico, «the intention was to prevent the start of any urbanization works, which would irreversibly destroy a wetland located in the municipality of Lagoa, called Alagoas White».
The environmental associations that filed the injunction explain that “this process defends the environmental values of that area, as evidenced by a study promoted by the Almargem Association and which had the collaboration of several entities, some of them public entities, and this project was financed by the Environmental Fund'.
Thus, these associated associations defend «the need for an environmental impact assessment on the project that Edifícios Atlântico intends to carry out, a study that the municipality of Lagoa has not promoted to the competent authority for this purpose, in this case, the CCDR Algarve ».
The Loulé Administrative Court has now ordered the Municipality of Lagoa to send the Almargem study to the CCDR Algarve, which will carry out a "prior assessment" on "the potential impacts of the urbanization project and subsequent construction of a commercial zone". CCDR Algarve will have a period of 20 working days to carry out this preliminary assessment.
Contacted by Sul Informação, Luís Encarnação, mayor of Lagoa, began by recalling that the defenders of the wetland known in recent years as Alagoas Brancas (name of the commercial and industrial park that already exists in the area), «introduced two actions against the Chamber, with the Administrative Court of Loulé, but none of them was granted and the prosecutor ordered them to be filed. They have now proceeded with an injunction, because it goes directly to the judge».
The mayor said he agrees that "everything is clarified and that a decision is taken that does not leave the burden on the side of the Lagoa Council, because this has always been our concern." The new zone for commercial and industrial units is foreseen in the Planning Unit (UP) 3 and was approved in the Lagoa Urbanization Plan, in 2009.
Therefore, he explained, "if we move towards a unilateral decision, to say that we are going to cancel this license or we are not going to allow what is in the UP3 to be implemented here, I have several legal opinions that say that the Chamber will have to compensate the prosecutor , for what he has already done there, for the costs he supported, for the profits he will not have, for the commitments he already has with any interested parties in that area. It can result in large millions of euros in compensation”, to be paid by the municipality.
"If we decided not to comply with an urban planning instrument that is in force, which was approved by the Chamber, by the Municipal Assembly, had all the opinions of all entities, which are included in the PDM, there would be legal consequences for the holders of municipal bodies", he reinforced Louis Incarnation.
Therefore, for the mayor it is even a relief that the matter has now been referred by the Administrative Court of Loulé to the CCDR Algarve. If this entity “comes to say that an Environmental Impact Study must be carried out, I'm the first to say yes, I'm comfortable with that”. This is despite the fact that the law does not oblige «that there be an EIA for that area, taking into account what will be done there and the previous approval of the UP3».
«I cannot, lightly, contradict the approved planning instruments, because that would have consequences for the Chamber and for all the holders of municipal bodies that decided to do so. It could even lead me to lose my mandate», concluded the president of the Lagoa municipality.
The study promoted by Almargem, which can be consulted by clicking here, showed that this ecosystem “has an environmental richness much higher than expected, including species that are indicative of priority habitat for the Natura 2000 Network: 3170 Mediterranean temporary ponds, a particularly important habitat for conservation”, adds the statement from the associations.
This study “identified 114 species of birds, despite the small size of Alagoas, and the presence in that location of at least 1% of the national shrimp breeding population should be highlighted (porphyry porphyry) and 1% of the regional population (Mediterranean, Black Sea and West Africa) of Ibis Preta (Plegadis falcinellus). "
The associations argue that CCDR Algarve had even been associated «with the diagnostic study on wetlands in the Algarve when, in June 2019, it opened the doors of its auditorium at its headquarters in Faro for this study to be publicly presented. Among others, Anabela Simão, Mrs. Councilor of the City Council of Lagoa, who was responsible for the environment, was present at his presentation».
This diagnostic study actually advocated classification of Alagoas Brancas as a Protected Area of Local Scope.
The same was proposed, in that diagnosis, for the wetlands of Foz do Almargem and Trafal, on the coast of the municipality of Loulé, but there the The process of creating a Local Protected Landscape is already advancing, promoted by the Loulé City Council.
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