Archive for February, 2010

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CRA/Mayor Meeting 24th Feb 2010 Minutes

Friday, February 26th, 2010

CRA/Mayor Meeting 24th Feb 2010 Minutes
Mazarron Old Town Hall

Those Present :
Mayor Blaya Blaya
Jackie Galvez – Counciller (JG)
Ricardo Fernandez Puche – Council Lawyer (RP)
Greg Green – CRA Chairman (GG)
Joyce Stewart – CRA Vice Chairwoman(JS)
Les Crook – CRA Membership Secretary
John Daws – CRA
Bob Owen – CRA
Barrie Eveleigh – CRA (BE)
Enrique Olmos – Translator

The meeting commenced at 10am.

1. Now that the Council have officially announced that they are taking legal action against Masa to recover guarantees and the statement given to the CRA in the meeting with the Mayor of 4th Nov 2009, that the process for taking the funds was straight forward and could only be appealed against by Masa after the money was taken, can the Mayor give some idea of how long it will be before the Council adopt A Sector?

The Mayor started by going through the process that has occurred and his vision of the future:

i. The council have been holding back on taking action against Masa as they realise the cost of completing Camposol will be huge and they wanted Masa to pay for as much as possible.

ii. Having accepted that Masa are not going to do anything further the Council have begun the process of applying for the guarantees covering all sections of Camposol. Masa were informed by letter if this intent.

iii. In law Masa are allowed two months to reply with any objections. As usual Masa used the time allowed before answering. Their objections then have to be answered by the Council and another two months allowed for a reply. All this takes time.

iv. The Council will approach the banks holding the guarantees for payment. There are then two possibilities.

a) The bank pay the money to the Council over any objections by Masa. This might take as little as two months. Masa could appeal against payment and should they win the money would have to be repaid.
b) Masa can inform the banks prior to payment being made of their objections and the banks could hold on to the money pending a judgement. This might take a year.

v. When the money is received a full technical assessment will be undertaken to prioritise the work needed and the money used to complete as much of it as is possible. How to finance the rest will need to be discussed then.
BE asked what would happen if there was not enough money from the guarantees to complete the outstanding work, will the council still take over Camposol.

RP stated that it could not be taken over until this work was completed.

There then followed a discussion on who was responsible for making up the shortfall. The CRA position being that the Council (as stated in the Garrigues Report) was fully responsible and the Mayor saying that the residents of Camposol were responsible. This point was not finalised in the discussion.

GG stated that the process still had a long way to run and it would be sensible to start compiling plans and databases ready for the day when Camposol was accepted by the council. The Mayor showed no enthusiasm for this.

2. In the meeting with the Mayor on the 6th May 2009 the Mayor said that J Galvez was to head up a council group looking at the proposed management structure for Camposol. Could we please have an update as to the preferred management structure agreed by the Mayor and what steps are to be taken to put this in to practice?

The Mayor stated that it was still their preferred option that Camposol come under Council administration with an extra levy tax being paid for the additional costs required to maintain Camposol under the guidance of a Camposol management committee. To do this it would only take an amendment be approved by the Council Plenum. The Mayor preferred this option as the powers held by the Council would allow easier and more prompt collection of all taxes due.

GG asked if the Mayor saw this process as being for a whole Camposol. The Mayor supported by his lawyer said that they believed that the administration of such a system would be easier if the urbanization were broken down in to two areas. GG asked what would be the preferable break, to which the lawyer said in equal parts. GG asked the Mayor if it was his intention to divide Camposol into one containing A Sector and the other consisting of B, C & D Sectors. The Mayor would not commit himself at this stage but on being pushed for an answer the lawyer stated an equal split would be preferable.

3. Will the Mayor now commit himself to having a meeting with all groups concerned to negotiate the smooth adoption of Sector A and to a 5 year plan being put in to place to cover all work outstanding and day to day maintenance?

GG asked once again that after listening to everything said previously in the meeting and the reality that the Camposol infrastructure was deteriorating day by day then it was unacceptable not to start the process of preparing data bases, budgets etc.. From what had been said it would be at least two years before any additional Camposol taxes were agreed collected and available to maintain and improve Camposol. The Mayor again would not commit himself away from the process he had outlined earlier.

4. As requested by the Mayor in our meeting of 6th May 2009 the CRA have now contacted the Confederacion Hidrografica who state that they are unlikely to sign off the Revised Plan Parcial without the completion of the artificial rambla on D sector being agreed and completed. Now that the Mayor has acknowledged that Masa is not going to complete this work will the Mayor give his views on who will undertake and pay for this work to enable the Revised Plan Parcial for Sectors B, C & D to be signed off resulting in the Council being able to adopt these sectors?

The Council lawyer showed little concern for the discussions and details obtained by the CRA from their meeting with the Confederacion Hidrografica (CH) and said that he believed that the Plan Parcial could be signed off with the consent of the CH without the artificial rambla being completed but plan approved.

GG asked the lawyer why, if there were there no problem, why there at least 3 poligono’s without escrituras and owners worrying if they actually owned the villas they lived in. He also stated that the CH had mentioned the possibility of the rambla being restored to its original state which would obviously mean many villas being demolished. JD asked directly if there was any chance that his villa would be demolished. JG said no.

There was then a discussion between the Mayor, JG & the lawyer as they obviously disagreed with each other over what had been said.

It was agreed that the lawyer look further in to the situation and report back.

5. Over the last few weeks Mrs Galvez has been involved with the council engineer over the problems with the sewage pumping station on D Sector. The engineer reported that the system installed by Masa did not have the capability to deal with the levels of sewage created. Now that we are agreed that Masa is unlikely to correct this and with the upcoming high season of visitors to Camposol can the Mayor tell us what he can do to deal with this problem before it gets worse?

JG stated that the Council Engineer had visited the site and spoken with Masa and the problem with the sewage had now been resolved. GG confirmed that it had been some weeks since he had heard reports of any further problems.

JG also stated that the Council Engineer had also looked at the subsidence at the major bridge approach on B/C and was talking to Masa. GG stated that he had been in regular contact with Masa and had seen a Masa engineer at the site. If no work is started in the next week GG will contact Masa for an update. GG & JG stated that both engineers had reported that the problem was with the approach and the bridge itself was structurally sound. JG stated that if Masa did not carry out remedial work then the Council would undertake the work and bill Masa.

6. Could the Mayor confirm if Masa were now paying for rubbish collection?

GG stated that the residents of A, B, C & D were paying Masa for this service through their water bills.

The Mayor stated that the only money the Council were receiving directly for rubbish collection was from Sector A residents with Aqualia contracts. He said that, the last time he had asked, Masa was not paying for sectors B, C & D to the Council but he would request an update.

JS asked if the owners on B, C & D could pay directly to the Council for rubbish collection. The Mayor said that he would look in to it.

The meeting closed at 12pm.

Next meeting agreed for approximately 3 months time.

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A Tale of Warning!!

Friday, February 26th, 2010

This article is from Coastrider
by Fiona Killick.

Property owners in Oasis Urbana 2 part of the La Marina complex were horrified earlier this year when they started to receive bills from the Suma office because their bills were not for the normal amounts they would have expected but for many thousands of euros. The bills had been sent out in order to raise the money to put in place a new sewage system for the area. The total cost of the project is in excess of 5 million euros and we were told by Fini Cánovas president of the local residents association, that the local Town Hall of San Fulgencio is only going to be contributing ten percent of the sum needed and the residents are being expected to pick up the rest, a huge sum that many, being pensioners on very limited incomes, simply cannot afford. Fini said that there are almost 500 families affected by these demands which vary depending on the size of the property but many are in excess of 10,000 euros and some in excess of 40,000. Even those for smaller properties are several thousand euros which, particularly for British residents who are pensioners, will be a large part of a year’s pension. The owners are being allowed nine months to find the money but that is no comfort for a project they believe should be funded by local or regional government. Failure to pay could result in owners facing embargos placed on their houses and bank accounts. “The local Town Hall will not speak to us, “Fini said, “They have passed the whole thing over to the Suma to collect the money.” The Resident’s Association is taking its case to the Public Defender in Valencia this week and their president said they would go to Madrid if necessary to further their cause.

Fini Cánovas advises all owners to record the date they receive their bills on the top of the documents as they have 30 days to lodge an appeal against them.

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Useful Precedent or Not??

Friday, February 26th, 2010

This article has been copied from The Costa Blanca RTN.

Galicia Amnesty Gives Hope to Catral Residents

Contributed by Louise Clarke
Thursday, 25 February 2010

The Galician Socialists have decided this week to grant an amnesty to all the illegal houses in the region, built before 2003. The Partido Socialista de Galicia (PSdeG) party has decided to officially support the Ley de Suelo and as a result, the move has brought hope to the hundreds of illegal home owners in Catral. Despite rejections by former Councillor María José Caride, the motion to support the law was passed by a majority in the Galician Regional Parliament. It means that any house built without either a municipal or a regional licence before 1st January 2003 will now be given amnesty, whether it adheres to planning regulations or not. Sources at the Galician Regional Government estimate that there will be tens of thousands of homeowners who will benefit from this amnesty. But those houses that were built on protected
land will be excluded.

IRRESPONSIBLE

The agreement states that the houses built without a licence before January 2003 can be legalised by payment of 10 euro per square metre, so as with the situation in Catral, legalisation comes at a cost to the homeowner. Socialist Councillors opposed to the amnesty described it as “an irresponsible exercise” and argued that the PSdeG Councillors, who voted in favour of the law, were going against party policy and its official position.

Former Galician President, Emilio Perez Touriño, strongly criticised the reform of the law, due be written into the regional constitution next week with the view to implementation by mid March. A regional parliament spokesman told RTN “A document will be sent to all the municipalities to make sure that they are aware of the new reforms and it is then up to the homeowners to contact their own Town Hall to finalise the legalisation of their houses.”

NO LEGAL LIABILITY

Chuck Svoboda of Abusos Urbanisticos No! (AUN) told RTN “It could be a useful precedent of sorts and could help in many situations, although I don’t like the implications of a wholesale; amnesty. It lets the bad guys, i.e. the promoters, developers, Town Halls and speculators off the hook.” He added “The devil will be in the detail as the people in Catral have learned. They will get their homes legalised, perhaps, but at what cost, and to whom? The property owners will, no doubt, get stuck with the tab as the other tax payers won’t pay for infrastructure costs and many, if not most, of the developers and promoters turn out to be front companies with no resources and no legal liability once they go bust.” Chuck concluded “Town Halls don’t have any money and the developers’ bank guarantees, in many cases, are worthless. There are also situations where those who built houses discover that their dwellings aren’t even on property they own. What sort of amnesty will cover that? How can they ever get clear title or proper registration of their property? Galicia doesn’t have a very large non-Spanish population to prey upon, so I wonder how attractive this would be to the authorities in places that do have one.”

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Landmark Judgement made in case of Camposol Touristico Property

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Condemned For Selling House on Touristico Land

They must pay 289,813 Euros to an English couple who bought the house in Camposol.

The Provincial Audencia of Murcia has ordered a construction company to compensate 289,813 euros for a villa that was acquired for permanent use when legally it was not possible for this to be built on land intended for the tourist sector buyers. The Audencia confirmed the sentence which was handed down a year ago by the Court of first instance number four in Totana in which it had ordered the company return to a married English couple money paid for the property. The court has also ordered the withdrawal of compensation initially made for 5,000 euros be paid to the married couple for mental anguish as this was not proven and they have had the use of the villa for the last 5 years. The judgment of the Provincial Audencia of Murcia indicates that this couple bought a house in the Camposol Urbanization in Mazarron and presented a demand against the seller asking for the nullification or resolution of the contract to verify that this villa was not planned for normal residential use, but for tourist use. He also stated that it was not possible to change the purpose of the property to residential from Touristico as this had been authorized by the Mazarron Council for that purpose. The Audencia confirmed the nullification of the sales contract and ordered the company to pay a total of 289,813 euros to the purchasers of the property.

This article is taken from La Opinion dated 18th Frebruary 2010.

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Want to be a CRA Member but living in the UK?

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

If you are a homeowner of a villa on Camposol you can now join the CRA by email.

All you have to do is email the details below to info@cracamposol.com and you will be sent your membership details by return. Your membership card will then be ready for collection on your next visit to Camposol.

Full Name.
NIE or Passport Number.
If re-registering old CRA membership Number.
Villa Details in Camposol :
Villa Type
Poligono & Plot Numbers
Street Name and Number
Spanish Tel Number
Do you own villa Y/N
Are you on pardon Y/N
Do you have residence in Spain Y/N
Are you resident in Spain or do you use your villa for holiday home or rental.
E-mail address.
UK address & Telephone No.

Nb… No information will be passed to any third party without your prior consent.

Current members with the old red membership cards can also follow the same procedure to obtain an updated green membership card.

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CRA Meeting With Mayor – 24th Feb – Questions

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

The following questions have been forwarded to the Mayor in anticipation of the meeting to be held with the CRA on 24th February 2010.

1. Now that the Council have officially announced that they are taking legal action against Masa to recover guarantees and the statement given to the CRA in the meeting with the Mayor of 4th Nov 2009, that the process for taking the funds was straight forward and could only be appealed against by Masa after the money was taken, can the Mayor give some idea of how long it will be before the Council adopt A Sector.

2. In the meeting with the Mayor on the 6th May 2009 the Mayor said that J Galvez was to head up a council group looking at the proposed management structure for Camposol. Could we please have an update as to the preferred management structure agreed by the Mayor and what steps are to be taken to put this in to practice.

3. Will the Mayor now commit himself to having a meeting with all groups concerned to negotiate the smooth adoption of Sector A and to a 5 year plan being put in to place to cover all work outstanding and day to day maintenance.

4. As requested by the Mayor in our meeting of 6th May 2009 the CRA have now contacted the Confederacion Hidrografica who state that they are unlikely to sign off the Revised Plan Parcial without the completion of the artificial rambla on D sector being agreed and completed. Now that the Mayor has acknowledged that Masa is not going to complete this work will the Mayor give his views on who will undertake and pay for this work to enable the Revised Plan Parcial for Sectors B, C & D to be signed off resulting in the Council being able to adopt these sectors.

5. Over the last few weeks Mrs Galvez has been involved with the council engineer over the problems with the sewage pumping station on D Sector. The engineer reported that the system installed by Masa did not have the capability to deal with the levels of sewage created. Now that we are agreed that Masa is unlikely to correct this and with the upcoming high season of visitors to Camposol can the Mayor tell us what he can do to deal with this problem before it gets worse?

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CRA Central Liaison Meeting 61 minutes – 12th Feb 2010

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

CRA Central Liaison Meeting 61 minutes – 12th Feb 2010

Minutes of the 61st Meeting 12/02/2010

Those Present:
Greg Green Chairman
Joyce Stewart Vice Chair/Treasurer
Les Crook Membership Sec
Barrie Eveleigh Communications.
John Daws
Geoff Nastri
Bob Owen
Apologies: Mary cooper

The meeting began at 1.30pm.

1. Previous Minutes:
That the minutes of the 60th meeting circulated prior were a true record.
Proposed: Bob Owen
Seconded: Geoff Nastri Carried Unanimously

2. Over the last year there have several changes to the way in which membership to the CRA has been recorded. There are in fact two lists :

a. The original list containing just under 2000 card holding members.
b. A new list consisting of just under 700 members who had re-registered their membership and new members who had joined since the re-registration process started.

This has caused some confusion as to the actual membership numbers of the CRA and needed to be corrected to maintain the CRA’s charitable registration which requires all members to be recorded and available on request.

It was proposed that both lists be amalgamated with a clean-up operation to be undertaken to ensure that all members are alive and are Camposol homeowners or homeowners family.
Proposed : Les Crook
Seconded : John Daws Carried with one against.

To be able to comply with this proposal:

a. Over the next few days both lists would be amalgamated, checked for duplications and approved by the committee.
b. A request would be posted on the website and on the Cabin notice board asking the following :
i) If any current member wished to withdraw their membership they should do so by contacting a committee member at the Cabin when open or by emailing info@cracamposol.com with their request.
ii) Any person, member or non-member, who knew of the passing away or moving away of anyone they think to be a CRA member contact a committee member at the Cabin when open or by emailing info@cracamposol.com with the details to allow the records to be updated.

In addition to the points above two other suggestions were approved :
iii) All members who have not re-registered but have an original red membership card should change this card for the new Green Card. At the same time information such as email address should be given in to assist with improved communication for all members. This can be done by contacting a committee member at the Cabin when open or by emailing info@cracamposol.com with their current membership card number.
1v) A membership request form will be made available for download from the website to allow non-resident homeowners to apply for membership much easier. The completed membership form can be emailed to info@cracamposol.com

There being no further business the meeting was closed at 3pm.

The next committee meeting will be held on the 1st March 2010.

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CRA Meeting with Mayor

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

The next meeting between the CRA and the Mayor of Mazarron has now been confirmed for the 24th February, 2010 at 10.00am.

Once collated and agreed the questions to be forwarded to the Mayor prior to the meeting will be published on the website.

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CRA Central Liaison Committee Vacancy

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

CRA_logo

Are you willing to give up a few hours a week to put something back in to your community?

Then why not put your name forward to work on the CRA Central Liaison Committee!!

Of course it’s a thankless task and it’s difficult to demonstrate success but the CRA does make a difference and slowly those that matter are starting to sit up and take notice.

Interested???

Then email your details to chairman@cracamposol.com or just leave your details at the CRA Cabin during open hours.

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Re-opening Bali Hi – Saturday 13th February 2010

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

After resolving their licencing problems with the Ayuntamiento Bali Hi is to re-open on Saturday 13th February 2010.

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