Mazarrón Council award contract to update official plans for Camposol

A 4-year contract has been awarded to modify the official Camposol Plan to reflect what physically exists, clearing the way for the lifting of the planning permission suspension

On May 12 Mazarrón Council’s governing board (Junta de Gobierno) approved the recommendation of the council’s contracting committee for the awarding of a contract “For the Drafting of the structural modification of the PGMO of Mazarrón. Area A-05-07 “El Saladillo”, relating to the Camposol development.

The original construction plans for the Camposol urbanisation (El Saladillo - Area A-05-07) were drawn up by developer Grupo MASA around 1992 for Sector A and in 1999 for Sectors B, C, D and F, and these are on record as the official development plans (Plan Parcial). Unfortunately, Grupo MASA did not strictly follow the plans and the resulting infrastructures have a multitude of discrepancies which have made ongoing urban planning very difficult: it is mainly for this reason that a blanket building permit and licencing suspension was officially enforced in April 2016.

One of the most glaring discrepancies is the motorway access point for the urbanisation which is in a totally different position to that shown in the original plan (as seen above). The bridge over the rambla (dry river bed) between Sectors B and C is also in a different position (as seen below). In fact the current bridge was only envisaged as temporary until the more substantial planned bridge was constructed. Discussions are under way between the relevant authorities to build a bridge in the location originally planned, joining the dual carriageway, Avenida de los Covachos, on sectors B and C.

Other obvious deviations from the plan include roundabouts constructed that do not exist in the plan and roundabouts shown in the plan that were never built. Along with principal thoroughfares being changed and road dimensions which are inconsistent with the plans, there are also large areas on sectors B and D which were left undeveloped by Grupo MASA and where building permission has lapsed, leaving privately owned land in an administrative limbo.

However, probably the most crucial and important omission from the original plan is the position of the Rambla (dry riverbed) de los Aznares, which runs through sector D, and an adequate system of drainage to cope when floodwater occurs, resulting in the extensive flooding that occurred in 2014.

The modification contract has been put out to tender several times since 2019 but has failed to attract an acceptable bid but the latest tender had an increased budget of just over €344,000 (including tax) and an expanded remit and this time 5 bids were received. The winning bid was lodged jointly by two companies, one a firm of technical civil engineering consultants and the other a project management company.

A source in the Mazarrón town planning department said “The modifications to the Camposol Plan is in response to the need to correct the defects and discrepancies of the different Development plans approved to date and the reality of what was finally constructed, as well as the need to adapt such plans for the areas pending development”. When the modifications are complete the Camposol plan can then be officially added to the PGMO (General Plan of Mazarrón).

Apart from the re-drawing of the infrastructure elements that are incorrectly reflected in the current plans, the modified plan will also address the Rambla de los Aznares situation by showing the rerouted path of the water course which is being processed by the national and regional governments in conjunction with Mazarrón council. The new route being studied, known as “Alternative 4” (as seen above), runs outside the developed area of the urbanisation. Once it is agreed and integrated into the revised Camposol plan, the dispute over the government-owned land that affects over 600 properties in the path of the current route will be settled and the new route will alleviate the risk of flooding, much to the relief of the property owners. It will also alleviate planning problems with a number of undeveloped privately owned building plots also on the current watercourse.

When accepted by the Murcia regional government the revised plan will allow the permit and licencing suspension to be lifted and documentation can then be processed in accordance with urban planning regulations.

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