Despite the Coastal Authority now confirming that the actions of the Orihuela Council to remove the wall connecting Cabo Roig with Aguamarina were correct, the PSOE has criticised the council’s “mismanagement” of the situation which they say has created an “unnecessary conflict” with the residents of the Bellavista I Urbanisation.
They made the statement following the receipt of a letter from the Provincial Service of Coasts informing the Orihuela Government that they consider the passageway to be “a zone of easement of transit” and therefore endorse the decision adopted in 2015 by the Previous government team to demolish the wall, which was first built by the residents of the Bellavista I Urbanisation twenty years ago cutting off the thoroughfare between the two coastal areas.
Although only a hundred metres in length the closure of the passageway meant a detour of over 2km for anybody wishing to continue their route along the seafront promenade.
The letter states that the dwellings of the aforementioned urbanisation “are not affected by the zone of easement of transit” whereas the parcel of discord “does not invade the terrestrial public domain” although the residents continue to argue the contrary.
The letter also says that this should now prevent the construction of a wall that would again block the passage.
However the situation is still unclear following the councils failure to appeal against the court’s ruling that the land is private and any walkway should run along the front of the cliff face.
PSOE Councillor María García said that the failure of the government team not to appeal the judgment has created a problem with the Bellavista residents, who continue to state their intention to recover the passageway, believing that the Elche court decision came down firmly in their favour.”
The Councillor also confirmed that she currently is unaware of any negotiations being carried out by the City Council and the residents of the Bella Vista urbanization stating that the expropriation of this land would be very expensive for the municipal budget.
Local pressure group FAOC (Federación de Asociaciones de Orihuela Costa) were quick to pick up on the PSOE statement saying that they will be writing to the Provincial Service of Coast this week requesting that access the passageway be formally acknowledged and protected so that the route can continue to be enjoyed by the many thousands of residents and visitors to the area in the future.
