As this digital newspaper advanced, the Councilor for Territorial Policy and Environment of the Cabildo of Lanzate, Carlos Espino, moved to the Spanish capital at the beginning of this week to hold a series of meetings with the technical team that is developing, under the coordination of Fernando Prats, the
Special Territorial Plan (PET).
This is one of the basic tools available to the First Corporation, together with the adaptation of the Lanzarote Island Territorial Planning Plan (PIOT) to the Law of Guidelines and Territorial Planning of the Canary Islands, to avoid the real danger in the face of the possible intention of certain businessmen to undertake tourist and industrial works on rustic land of the Island as a result of the delay in the approval of the Plan.
Espino announced that during the meeting in Madrid they already began to detail the work agenda of the Special Territorial Plan, announcing that "next week we will make public the calendar of meetings, which will include the official presentation of works and the definitive dates to present the studies around the PIOT".
Coordination with legal teams
On the other hand, and during the same visit to Madrid, Espino took advantage of his stay in the Peninsula to hold a new coordination meeting with the legal teams that are currently defending the different judicial procedures that the Cabildo has, to see what fit or what consequences the different actions that are currently being carried out could have on the Special Territorial Plan.
The councilor intends to know how the Special Territorial Plan could reinforce and open avenues of solution to the situation that is fundamentally occurring in Playa Blanca -it is estimated that there are about 12 lawsuits pending against the City Council of Yaiza - together with the pair of procedures opened in relation to two establishments in Costa Teguise", he said.
Espino advanced that the different meetings had resulted in a very positive balance, not only for the concrete results but, for the moment, for the interest of the important lines of work opened after the meetings.
Although in principle it is expected that the PTE will be completely finished, after public exhibition and initial approval, before next March -the deadline expires next April 2006-, the Councilor for Territorial Policy of the Cabildo acknowledged that "we need to complete the Special Territorial Plan as soon as possible and, above all, finalize the definitive adaptation of the PIOT -to the Law of Guidelines and Territorial Planning of the Canary Islands- , which will allow the First Island Corporation to manage in the coming years not only the accommodation sector, but also the adaptation of the general plans of the different municipalities of Lanzarote.
Fear of the post-moratorium phase
The completion of the PIOT review is essential, especially, so that the Cabildo can reach the post-moratorium scenario, that is, the year 2010, when the term for which the second review of the Island Plan is extended ends, with tranquility.
"The end of the moratorium should already begin to be a concern and one more element of work, because we cannot forget that the year 2010 is there, and at that time we will have to resolve the major issues affecting those beds that still gravitate on the island's economy", Espino concluded.