Costa Blanca News 14 10 2005

FYI: I have sent some suggestions to Michael Cashman regarding his
proposals, and I will draft some proposed modifications to the Fourtou
document for his consideration , starting with its title which should refer
to "complaints" rather than "allegations". I hope some arrangement has been
made so that amendments to the draft LUV will be accepted from Brussels
after yesterday's "deadline" cited by Serrano last week. CVS

LAND GRAB REPORT DISAPPOINTMENT

Leaked document not tough enough

By Tom Cain
Charles Svoboda, the president of Abusos Urbanísticos No (AUN), has said the
eagerly awaited report into land grab abuses in the Valencia region prepared
by EU commissioner Janelly Fortou does not go far enough in its condemnation
of the contencious LRAU land law.

Mr Svoboda said that although the document has some tough language in it,
rather than being a hard-hitting report into the thousands of cases of land
grab abuses, the document appears to be more of a proposed resolution. He
was particularly concerned over the fact that the findings of the visit were
meant to be kept secret until they were presented to the petitions
committee, yet by as early as Wednesday last week they were leaked to the
press and were available, in French, on the EU parliament's website.

BRUSSELS TO TAKE ACTION

The European Commission has stated that while it applauds the Valencia
government for introducing a new land law, it does not consider the LUV to
be sufficiently robust and it needs more work on it in order to comply fully
with EU regulations.

The commission repeated that it sent a letter to the Spanish government
several months ago informing it that legal proceedings have been started
over the way procurement contracts for certain development projects have
been awarded by some councils in the Valencia Region using the LRAU land law
to break EU rules governing the awarding of public contracts.

Rafael Blasco, the head of the regional housing and territories council,
announced on Wednesday that the new LUV land law would include all of the
recommendations from Brussels and that the time frame for proposing
amendments to it has been extended to October 18.

Sr Blasco's announcement has been met with some scepticism with many people
expecting the Valencia government to shrug off the petitions committee's
findings and carry on as normal with the LRAU and its substitute law the
LUV.

Following the leaking of the document, the head of the Socialist Party in
Valencia, Jaun Ignasi Pla, reiterated that there would be no agreement
between the socialists and the Partido Popular over the new LUV land law
bill that is soon to be debated. He added that the decision was irrevocable.

As Costa Blanca News went to press the newspaper received a copy of the
changes which MEP Michael Cashman is proposing the Valencia government make
to the new LUV law which will replace the notorious LRAU.

Mr Cashman insisted that the document, which he hopes will serve as a
preamble to the law, is currently only in draft form and will have to be
reworded.

MEPs will be studying the draft document this week.

It states:

This law shall be without prejudice to the rights and obligations arising
out of national, European and international treaties and agreements.
Where a ‘plan’ or ‘urbanisation’ is proposed it shall be published for one
year during which submissions, objections and proposals may be made to the
municipal authority or the ‘protectate’.

A protectate shall be a body made up of representatives of the local
community, the construction industry, and a representative of the mayor's
office.
At the end of the one year period if over 50% of landowners object to the
plan or urbanisation then it shall be deemed rejected. No further plan may
be submitted within 5 years from the date of rejection unless the submission
is from more than 50% of the landowners.
When a plan or urbanisation is accepted then landowners shall become
shareholders of the development company in proportion to the amount of land
ceded to the development.

Infrastructure costs of the plan or urbanisation shall be subject to
shareholder scrutiny and agreement.

Where a landowner objects to the development or is unable to pay
infrastructure costs he shall be compensated in the following way:
He shall receive a percentage of the development project in proportion to
the land ceded
He shall be paid the market rate for "urbanized" land which he has to cede.

Consolidated houses shall not be a part of any development unless agreed in
advance by the owner.Furthermore they shall not be expected to cede land nor
contribute to any infrastructure costs unless prior agreement is give.

There must be objective criteria for the "UTILIDAD PUBLICA".

A compensation package shall be constructed which shall accrue contributions
pre tax from any current or ongoing development.All participants in the
developments shall be required to contribute.A special panel to assess
claims of those past victims of abuse of the LRAU shall be constituted.
It shall consist of representatives of the construction industry, the
developers, local and regional politicians and representatives of the
"victims". Any monies accrued within the compensation fund which remain
unspent within three years of the completion of a development may be given
to the municipality for the benefit of the local community.

tomcain@costablancanews.com