Five of the six members of the Scientific Cabinet of the Biosphere Reserve of Lanzarote have signed a "devastating" report against the Land Law that the Executive of Fernando Clavijo intends to approve. This is how Somos Lanzarote has described this opinion, prepared as a result of a motion presented by this party in the Plenary Session of the Cabildo last July.
In that session, it was agreed to seek the opinion of this body of experts in charge of providing technical and scientific advice to the Council of the Biosphere Reserve. And the conclusion of five of the six members of this body is that Lanzarote would have to contribute or even lead a process to correct the "deficiencies" of that bill, which is currently being processed in the Parliament of the Canary Islands.
"The text makes it clear that the Land Law is a threat to the territory of the Canary Islands, to the sustainability of the growth model, and that it goes against the culture of containing territorial destruction that has historically been defended from this island", says Somos Lanzarote, which emphasizes that the report has been released "the day before the meeting of the Council of the Biosphere Reserve", convened for this Thursday, "to discuss this controversial law"
"Risk of expulsion of those who really live from agricultural activity"
Regarding the content of the opinion, it highlights that "the experts warn of the threats posed to the Biosphere Reserve of Lanzarote, among which are the legal uncertainty that it would produce, the multiplication of exceptional procedures compared to planning, as well as the risk of expulsion of those who really live from agricultural activity in favor of speculative interests in rural land".
For the scientists, the Land Law that Coalición Canaria intends to approve, with the support of its PSOE partners, "proposes a territorial planning model that hinders the necessary global vision required for the application of the principles of sustainability", insists Somos.
Among other things, the experts warn that "the Cabildo loses the capacity to plan Lanzarote as a whole", by preventing the institution from declassifying developable land and reclassifying it as rural through the Island Plan", and it could also not "set the criteria for the island's tourism model", adds Somos, reproducing different parts of the report.
"Another of the concerns, which add to those expressed by Somos Lanzarote both in said ordinary plenary session and in the debate on the State of the Island, is the prevalence of exceptional projects over territorial planning", adds the party.
In addition, it warns of the "dangers that lurk on rural land, favoring land consumption, the dispersion of buildings in rural areas, as well as the use of rural land for so-called complementary uses". And the report of the Scientific Cabinet concludes that these "complementary uses" open the door "in practice to any activity" on rural land.
