Orihuela Costa residents object to housing development plans in flood-risk area

Residents and ecologists argue this coastal area “is already overcrowded and overdeveloped”

Residents and ecologists are opposing plans to increase the number of houses to be built on land in Campoamor, Orihuela Costa, which they argue is at risk of flooding.

It is the second modification of building restrictions in the same district of the municipality’s coast to be challenged in the last month.

In the most recent case, Orihuela town hall aims to allow a developer to increase the number of new homes it can build, from 13 to 33, on a plot spanning 6,529 metres between Calles Wenceslao Fernández Flores and Juan Marsé, which lies between the N-332, a Consum supermarket and the area’s 24-hour pharmacy.

This plot is within the potential flood hazard zone defined by the regional flood-risk plan (Patricova) around the final stretch of the Río Nacimiento, according to the environmental associations Amigos de Sierra Escalona (ASE) and Amigos de los Humedales del Sur de Alicante (AHSA), and residents’ associations ‘San Miguel Arcángel’ of San Miguel de Salinas, FAOC, Punta Prima, Playa de la Glea, Altos del Pinar and Campoamor.

The red shows the flood-risk area and the grey shows the potential flood-risk area, as defined by the Patricova

They argue that it should therefore be restored to its previous status of non-buildable land with special protection, and should furthermore be included in the regional and municipal catalogues of ‘green infrastructure’ – natural elements that address urban challenges, such as flooding in this case.

The risk of the Río Nacimiento flooding is becoming increasingly significant due to climate change, they note.

The isolated low-pressure system (known by the acronym DANA in Spanish) storm in September 2019 flooded a nearby area of housing closer to this river, and should there be another such storm that is the magnitude of the one in Valencia last October, it could affect this area too, the ecologists and residents claim.

They insist it would be “reckless” to allow housing in an area that is at risk of flooding.

Moreover, they argue that this plot should be included within the Site of Community Importance (SCI) area of the Sierra Escalona and Dehesa de Campoamor – and therefore protected by the EU – as part of an ecological corridor of natural habitat connecting these vital ecosystems with the Cabo Roig marine reserve, in order to preserve biodiversity of flora and fauna.

To this end, in June 2023 ASE registered objections to the natural resources management plan (PORN) for the Sierra Escalona and Dehesa de Campoamor, calling for various areas, including this plot, to be included in this corridor around the course of the river down to the sea.

Indeed, about 4,000m2 of this plot is already within the SCI, thereby affecting an EU Natura 2000 network area, they claim.

The green area shows the SCI and the red outlines the plot where extra housing is going to be authorised

The opponents to the plans insist that this coastal area “is already overcrowded and overdeveloped” and “urgent measures are required to stop building on the few remaining undeveloped lands”.

Second case in a month

Only last month the same environmental and residents’ associations registered objections to town hall plans to allow the same developer to build 64 homes, instead of 24, on another plot of land by the Río Nacimiento, by Calle Rosa Montero, which they also allege is at risk of flooding but the town hall has insisted is not.

The Costa Campoamor residents’ association criticised that trees have already been cleared from the plot using heavy machinery, and reported it to the Segura river and water authority (Confederación Hidrográfica del Segura – CHS), Orihuela town hall and the Valencia regional government.

While residents in this area note that the flooding from the 2019 DANA came right up to their houses, and the Patricova includes 5,000m2 of the 18,000m2 plot in the Río Nacimiento flood-risk area, the town hall has claimed CHS reports concluded it is only likely to flood once every 500 years.
 

Image 1: Archive

Images 2 & 3: ASE