Move will allow larger areas of commercial developments
JM reports that the Confiança coalition condemned, this Saturday, the announced intention to suspend the urban master plan for a period of two years in Funchal, namely in the parish of São Martinho.
In an initiative this Saturday, councillors Miguel Silva Gouveia and Cláudia Dias Ferreira visited various areas of the municipality, having in this regard stated that “the excuse used by the current councillor for urbanism for this attempt to suppress the law, is based on the need to allow the implementation of larger areas of commercial developments in residential zones”.
“Knowing that Funchal is, at the moment, one of the Portuguese cities where the cost of housing has grown the most and the difficulties felt with the increase in interest rates, this measure is yet another contribution to push the people of Funchal out of Funchal, intensifying the crisis in access to decent housing”
The “Confidence” Coalition brings together the Socialist Party (PS), the Left Block (BE), the Animal Nature People Party (PAN), the Earth Party (MPT) and the Republican Democratic Party (PDR).
Praia Formosa development potentially compromised
In the eyes of Confiança, the announcement of the suspension of the master plan removes the need to draw up a detailed plan for Praia Formosa and means that “the use of that space for collective enjoyment as planned is compromised, with the safeguard of the inclusion of leisure areas, a cycle path, a promenade, a public coastal strip of access to the beach and better parking conditions”.
It is in this sense that the coalition accuses the current executive of having discarded all the work carried out in the previous mandate, namely the Procedure for the Preparation of the Detailed Plan of Praia Formosa approved unanimously in October 2019, the Geological, Geotechnical and Hydrological Study, the Study of the Impact of Traffic, Transport and Noise, the Strategic Environmental Assessment and the Detailed Plan Execution System for Praia Formosa and articulation with complementary studies.
“In Funchal, the public interest is currently subjugated to economic power, in which property developers dictate the rules to political power. Now we understand that the meaning of the promises to ‘speed up’ urbanism boil down to bending the city to the conveniences of some. Funchal has regressed two decades in terms of compliance with the legality and transparency in public policies”
In this, yet another proximity initiative promoted by the Confiança team in Funchal City Council, the councillors also listened to the needs of the population, verifying on the spot some of the concerns that were transmitted, looking for solutions for them within the foreseen legal framework and taking them to executive meetings.
COVID-19 in Madeira: updates can be found in an earlier post
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What a surprise! – with Lidl and Praia Formosa happening you don’t want any rules getting in the way.