ENVIRONMENTALISTS have slammed ‘reckless’ plans for new properties in a Costa Blanca flood zone.
A developer wants to build 64 semi-detached homes in the north of Campoamor by the Nacimiento river on the Orihuela Costa.
Proposals have been put on public display by Orihuela council but the Friends of Sierra Escalona(ASE) say there are big risks attached and will lodge formal objections.
NACIMIENTO RIVER APPROACHING THE COAST
ASE president, Miguel Angel Pavon, said that some 5,000 m2 of the 18,000 m2 are at risk from flooding during a DANA weather system- meaning 30 new properties could be in the firing line.
“No houses should ever have been built in this area, which is adjacent to Danger Zone 1, the highest risk area corresponding to the Nacimiento riverbed and its banks,” he stated.
There are 60 homes already on Calle Rosa Montero and Angel Pavon believes the interests of real estate developers are being prioritised over lives.
He added that the area is within the Site of Community Interest (SCI), which includes the Sierra Escalona and Dehesa de Campoamor, where construction should be prohibited.
The site plan proposes merging three blocks of single-family homes into a single block of terraced houses, increasing the number of marketable properties.
To minimise any negative impact on the environment, the homes would be set back from the river, creating a narrow green area with a pedestrian path.
This area is home to endangered plant species which would be moved to the new green space and the Rambla de las Estacas.
Angel Pavon says transplantation is a second-best option and branded the continuing urbanisation of the habitat, as an ‘aberration’.
He concluded that the only effective measure is to stop all plans for new properties in a ‘sensitive’ area.
