Hondon Valley Homes have been to both town meetings / public consultations to discuss the new Plan General that is being presented for approval and objection, prior to being submitted to the Valencian government.

These meetings are legally required to take place and the Ayuntamiento are obliged to submit all the information to the residents of the municipality in order for all aspect to be open and clearly interpreted.

The meeting on 28.08.18 was conducted entirely in Spanish and the meeting on 05.09.18 in English and French.

From the date that the Urban Plan is presented there is a period of 45 days in which any objections may be made. The Ayuntamiento reminded residents that any objections must be in the “general interest” and not personal.

The plan is to bring up to date the situation in the village and valley. Since 1992, when the last general plan was implemented, the environment has become much more of a critical consideration in day to day life and now is of the upmost importance when any consideration is being made for changes to the village and valley.

A new Valencian law was passed in 2014 and as such, the general plan needs to be updated to keep with the confines of this law.

The general plan and mandatory regional laws are available to download from the Hondon de las Nieves Ayuntamiento website. You can access the document (142 pages) and the applicable laws on the link below. There are also environmental studies, traffic studies and land classification documents.

Plan General – Hondon de las Nieves

The general plan will act as a framework for protecting the quality of life of the residents and the environment for the future; taking into account all changes in the laws since the last plan in 1992 and encompasses the mandatory obligations placed on the town hall by the Valencia government.

The plan and laws make it very clear that where in the past it was acceptable to build large developments in rustic area, this will no longer be allowed. The priority now is to increase urban development from the village nucleus outwards.

That expansion should be from the village into designated expansion areas and any new buildings should be in the context of the style of the village. This urban development mean that there will be more opportunity for more facilities in the village, with more shops, bars, restaurants, supermarkets as and when a population should increase.

“This does not mean that there is going to be a rapid building programme in the village. The projections for population growth are minimal and as such, the town hall will only allow development to compliment the demand for housing”.

Out of town development will be monitored and strictly regulated. You will be able to build in rustic/campo areas if the land is permitted to be built upon and you have a minimum of 10.000m2 and a construction of less than 2% as before.

It was also informed that any planning application within the urban area of the valley will require permission from the town hall, whereas any development in the campo will require town hall approval and approval from Valencia who will undertake environmental impact studies prior to licences being granted.

Evolution of Population:

Total building will be monitored to ensure it is in line with current demand. There will be no developments of empty new build properties. There will be preservation of buildings of historic interest.

Large scale drawings and documents are available for public viewing (without prior appointment) on the 1st floor of the Ayuntamiento during the normal opening hours of the town hall.

The feature word of the meeting was “concentric expansion” with the emphasis being on improving the village, amenities and facilities in line with reasonable expectation and no large and rapid expansion is forecast or allowed under the 2014 Valencian law which specifically prohibits “random expansion”.

A village by-pass was also mentioned. If in the future it is deemed necessary to build a village by-pass to alleviate the one way system/ traffic lights bottleneck, then a route has already been chosen. It will take the route from the roundabout at the poligono industrial and travel around the village behind the sports centre back to the CV-845. This again is available online and in the town hall.

In Summary:

It was pleasing to see so many local residents representing the community at both meetings. There was a forum for Q&A where questions were put directly to the member and representative present and these were answered openly and freely.

I personally asked if there was any plan for future urban development in the shape of urbanisations out of the village and was met with an equivocal NO. I also asked if the town hall had been approached by any developers or constructors with a view to applying for permission to develop and the answer was again NO.

There are still some areas that need addressing with regards to the matter however the plan does not include anything that should not be expected as the village grows and adapts slowly over the forthcoming decades……… watch this space.

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