Seven intervention projects, to be implemented within a time frame of 10 years, starting in 2022, representing an estimated global investment value of around 16,5 million euros, will transform Paul de Lagos into the new «attraction point» of this City.
This is the objective of the Lacobrigense City Council, which last week approved the final version of the Paul de Lagos Detailed Plan Proposal, which will be submitted to the Municipal Assembly for approval next February.
Hugo Pereira, president of the Chamber, told the Sul Informação that the Detailed Plan, after all the necessary approvals and its publication in the Diário da República, will enter into force in “March or April”.
Only after that, the Municipality will be able to apply for the necessary interventions to the funds of the «PRR or the next community support framework».
"What is already defined is that we will have to have a self-financing of around 5 million euros, going to get the remaining 11 million and such from the community framework", added the mayor.
Currently, recalls Hugo Pereira, Paul de Lagos is a wetland located at the end of the Bensafrim stream, which has been deteriorating. It is located «at the entrance of the city, but it is not safe, it does not have walking paths, it does not always have a very pleasant smell», due to discharges from the nearby WWTP. However, stresses the mayor, «it is an area with enormous potential, in terms of environmental tourism, leisure, bird watching».
Therefore, with the Detailed Plan and the seven planned intervention projects, "the idea is to change Paul's current state, giving him new life", added the mayor, in his statements to the Sul Informação.
The most expensive project will be the “Plan for the Eradication of Invasive Exotic Species”, given the difficulty and slowness of execution, followed by the creation of the “Paul de Lagos Environmental Park”, a project to be developed in an area of approximately 24,4 hectares , but which is conditioned by the relocation of equipment such as the Municipal Aerodrome and the Shooting Field.
However, the “Recovery and Requalification of Ribeira de Bensafrim”, the “Creation and design of logo and signage” and the creation of a “Paul de Lagos Interpretation Path” are the three projects that should advance first, since its implementation is seen as a priority in view of the Plan's objectives.
“We will have to promote the renaturalization of the area, which has been invaded by exotic plants that need to be eradicated. Then, it is necessary to protect the banks, create a connection between the banks, with a pedestrian bridge, create an interpretive center», President Hugo Pereira explained to our newspaper.
One of the issues to be resolved is the “relocation of the Municipal Aerodrome and the shooting range”, both located on the banks of the marsh. «We need to find a new location for these two devices».
«Currently, we already have many species of birds using Paul, but it is a fact that there is a conflict between planes and birds because of the location of the Aerodrome. If it is relocated to another place, in the future we may have more bird species there. If, today, Paul is already a pleasant place to watch birds, in the future it could be even more. And this is important not only for the inhabitants of the county, but also to diversify our tourist offer».
Another investment to be made involves «improving water quality, putting an end to the problems of the WWTP». Hugo Pereira recalls that the company Águas do Algarve, responsible for that equipment, «is also making a big investment, two or three years ago, namely in the expansion, in order to guarantee the end of the water quality problems. Normally, Paul has good quality, but with the current WWTP, there are problems from time to time and that is exactly what Águas do Algarve wants to solve».
The great novelty of this Detailed Plan, according to the mayor of Lagos, is that these plans are usually made «from the point of view of construction, while this is made from the point of view of environmental protection».
And could a next step be the classification of the paul as a Local Protected Area? «Our objective is to recover the paul environmentally. Whether or not there will be a need for classification is something that will have to be seen, even to assess whether an eventual classification will create more obstacles and problems for us», highlighted Hugo Pereira.
At the municipal executive meeting where the final version of the Detailed Plan was approved, the weighting of the contributions received within the scope of the Public Discussion process that took place from September 15 to October 13 of last year was also analyzed.
Paul de Lagos corresponds to the only Operational Unit for Planning and Management of the Municipal Master Plan, which will now be implemented by the Detailed Plan, a territorial instrument of municipal scope, with the nature of an administrative regulation, which establishes the regime for land use and projects. for its execution, including management measures to guide public and private action, being also accompanied by a program for the execution of the planned actions and the respective financing plan.
«The final Plan proposal reiterates the structuring principles – conservationist and cultural identity – underlying all the work developed and to be developed, as well as the objectives to be achieved, specifically aiming at the preservation and enhancement of the territory; the increase in biodiversity; the compartmentalization and regulation of uses; environmental and heritage awareness; and the dynamization of ecotourism», frames the autarchy.
The elaboration of the Paul de Lagos Detailed Plan is one of the actions foreseen in the application approved by the Operational Program CRESC Algarve 2020, being 60% co-financed by the ERDF.
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