Tag Archives: Water

The Cap d’en Font housing development, fined for illegal sewage discharge

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The presence of a pipe that had been discharging sewage onto the rocks at Cap d’en Font has resulted in a proposed fine of €150,000.

Last summer, GOB Menorca reported the illegal discharge of sewage from a house in Cap d’en Font, a residential area filled with large villas and lush green lawns but lacking a proper sewage system. The sewage had been flowing through a concealed pipe hidden among the vegetation, and eyewitnesses indicated that this had been an ongoing issue.

Continue reading The Cap d’en Font housing development, fined for illegal sewage discharge

Large Irrigations in Full Sun and Against the Law

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In a year of severe drought, large forage irrigations continue to be seen watering during peak sun hours. In Menorca, this practice is prohibited by law. The GOB (Balearic Group of Ornithology and Defense of Nature) has written to the Department of Water Resources to request that large farms engaging in these practices be warned.

Continue reading Large Irrigations in Full Sun and Against the Law

An enormous lawned garden, a motorcross circuit and new buildings on rustic (rural) land

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The unconventional behaviour of people with economic resources but no environmental principles is at risk. An important transformation on rustic ground has been reported by GOB to the Consortium of Urban Discipline (Consorci de disciplina urbanística) and to the Island Heritage Service (Servei insular de Patrimoni).

At a farm to the south of Mahon, construction has been observed of a tract of land of some 13,000 square meters and being made into a racing track for motorbike scramblers; the construction of new buildings; the creation of some 20,000 square meters of a lawned garden; and the destruction of hundreds of meters of dry stone walling, as well as possible damage to heritage elements.

Continue reading An enormous lawned garden, a motorcross circuit and new buildings on rustic (rural) land

The Tortuous case of the file concerning the swimming pools at Torre Vella

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The case of the illegal swimming pools of the agro tourism hotel Torre Vella continues to generate controversy and headlines. This is because the file has become stuck without any resolutions. The case is better understood when the chronology of events is known.

On the 17 October 2019, GOB informed the Consortium for Urban Discipline of some alleged irregularities in works carried out at the agro tourism hotel. In March 2021, the Consortium announced the opening of a file of disciplinary proceedings for actions not included in the licence, such as the construction of seven swimming pools, huts, pergolas and concrete pavements on paths and terraces.

As a result of learning about the matter, the Commission for the Environment, that had approved the environmental authorization to the agro tourism hotel with a series of conditions, also ordered an inspection by the Environmental Agencies. In addition to the things detected by the Council Inspectors, they found two landfills of rubbish of more than 2,000 square meters, the opening of expressly denied roads and the paving of others.

The case, then, has two types of breaches. Some urban and others environmental.

The proposed fine made by the Consortium (for the urban part) is 486,844 euros for each one of the three main managers, that is to say, the developer, the builder and the director of architecture of the works.

Any file like this has the possibility of asking the relevant town council if the works not covered by the licence can be legalized. If so, then the fine is reduced by 90%.

Non-compliance with environmental authorization cannot be legalized. The work must be reversed and adapted to the conditions put by the Commission. The body responsible for processing disciplinary proceedings is the Island Governing Council.

This raises one of the main problems of the case. The developers did not want to reverse the illegal swimming pools into rain water and waste water tanks, as they were meant to be originally, but tried to legalise the new pools. Legalising an environmental violation is not possible.

When that intention was known, GOB asked the Alaior Town Council if they could look at the files and understand what logic could be applied for legalising swimming pools made from water saving tanks. The answer from the Town Council was to deny access to the files stating that they were “being processed”.

To combat the dangerous dynamic of leaving cases of urban violations in the dark, GOB is searching for ways to obtain transparency. Looking for a way that is more rapid than contentious litigation, the criminal route was taken, on the understanding that not allowing access to environmental information nor who has generated the opening of a file could be considered prevarication.

The Chamber’s response was that it understood that this was to be treated as a legal dispute that was not for them to resolve. They added that there was no evidence of activity “grossly contrary to the law”. They aimed, therefore, to use the route of administrative legislation.

It was then decided to wait for some months in case the legalization file was progressing and to return to request consultation of the file with the Town Hall. The response was again one of denial, again alleging that there was onlydocumentation presented by the developers and some reports from other administrations.

Before opening the legal route (both expensive and slow) it was decided to check if the Council of Transparency and Good Governance an administrative organ, not judicial, wanted to intercede in this matter. But that route has not worked either. The Council of Transparency says that the Alaior Town Hall has told them that within the file in question, it claims, “the simple request of the interested party is intended for obtaining the corresponding licences”. It is hard to understand why the developers have not incorporated technical nor legal reasons for their legalisation petition, but this is what is claimed.

It also says that the Town Hall assures that there are two new documents, prepared by non-municipal bodies (the Consortium and the Island Governing Council) and that they have sent GOB’s consultation request to these two organisations so that they can show, in any case, the reports that they have issued. With this response, the Island Governing Council takes it as acceptable.

GOB has directed various briefs to the Island Governing Council to be able to see how the disciplinary proceedings resulting from the environmental breaches are evolving, without having had any response yet.

This battle for transparency is not going to be abandoned and a legal team is analysing the case in order to decide what steps should be taken before each implicated institution.

All this, without taking the focus from the important part, is that two and a half years ago, disciplinary proceedings were opened, that the Alaior Town Hall has not decided if it is possible to legalise swimming pools. In the meantime illegal pools continue to be part of the usual activity of the agro tourism hotel, as it says in their advertisments.

The provision for 490 chalets, in distress

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The projection of 490 villas on the Sant Lluis coast has had an official complaint made by GOB as a result of finding many important deficiencies in the forward planning.

The official plans for plots in Binisafuller and Cap d’en Font, with a projection of nearly five hundred villas, of which nearly half are already built, implies a projected population of 1,470 inhabitants, that must be supplied with drinking water and must have the management of sewage. Continue reading The provision for 490 chalets, in distress

Desalination plants: the excuse for suicidal growth

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For months now, we have seen in the press, repeated articles on desalination plants. They are always presented as giving water to the population, but the information hides some points that should be kept in mind.

Desalination is much more expensive

Since the work on the desalination plant for Ciutadella was delivered, the Balearic Government promised to pay the equivalent of 8,000 euros per day for the 15 years of construction. More than 43 million euros. This is being paid by the citizens although blurred by other costs. Continue reading Desalination plants: the excuse for suicidal growth

Ciutadella, water chaos that could be made worse

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The Ciutadella Town Hall plans to increase the current extractions from the aquifer (which is nearly completely saline) by 30% and use the desalination plant  100% by 2031. GOB has submitted formal complaints about the so-called Sustainable Management Plan of water and the drought emergency, because it considers the plan to be unrealistic. Continue reading Ciutadella, water chaos that could be made worse

Discharge of sewage water in Cap d’en Font

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The presence of sewage water along the coast of Sant Lluis  led to finding a fixed installation for a discharge into the public domain. GOB documented the case and made a formal complaint to Costas and the Department of the Environment.

Cap d’en Font has a series of large chalets with enormous lawns in their gardens. For that reason, the area was chosen by GOB to show the large consumption of water taken for gardening, as part of the framework for their excursions made last year in their campaign Menorca In-SOS-tenible.

Some of the people on this excursion saw, in an open area close to one of the large chalets, an area covered by shrubs and weeds, filled with sewage water and told GOB. An inspection led to finding a pipe hidden in the vegetation, from where the discharge came.

Comments from the neighbours suggested that they had noticed, on other occasions, rocks with coloured waters and suspicious smells. It pointed to a habitual practice of the emptying of a septic tank belonging to a chalet, which, they also said, had a lot of summer tourist activity despite not having a tourist rental permit.

Cap d’en Font is one of the urbanizations that does not have a sewage system. The owner of each establishment is responsible for contracting someone to empty their septic tank when it is full.

GOB estimates that the garden attached to the discovered “facility” must use about 1000 litres of water daily just for maintaining the lawn in the summer. This is 90,000 litres, minimum, during the tourist season.

For that reason alone, these chalets should be, already, the object of systematic inspections. This is particularly so since there is a means for discharging sewage water into a public domain, including an area where people swim, which aggravates the situation even more.

A formal complaint has been registered with the Balearic Government Ministry of Sea (that assumed the responsibility of coastal surveillance since July) and with the Environmental Agencies.