Parish-by-Parish Maximum Capacity Reports
On July 12, the Head of Government and the Minister of Territory and Urban Planning met with the Mayors of the seven parishes to discuss the next steps in the preparation and approval of the maximum development capacity reports for each one of the parishes.
Maximum capacity can be defined as the ability of a territory to support a maximum number of people indefinitely while preserving productivity, quality of life, the environment, biodiversity, and the landscape.
The Mayors declared that they have almost completed the studies (as required by Law 32/2022 of September 14) that are designed to measure the sustainability of urban and tourism development. It has been agreed that the studies will be delivered to the Government as soon as they are fully completed, between now and October. Once analysed, the Government will issue a mandatory and binding report that will be prepared in a coordinated and previously agreed manner with all the parishes. Based on this final text, the parishes will have to definitively approve their maximum capacity studies and, if necessary, adapt their parish and urban planning to the relevant conclusions.
The parishes and the Government agreed on the need to promote sustainable growth for the country, recognising that each parish has its own reality and particularities that will be reflected in the studies. The priorities of the plan include considerations of water use, redefining public infrastructure based on existing natural resources and population, and developing plans relating to the prevention of natural disasters, which are expected to become more frequent with climate change.
Although the studies will need to be related to each other due to the synergies between the parishes, it was unanimously decided to leave each parish with the immediate decision on urban planning policy (such as the suspension of licences), without prejudice to the work being carried out in the General Council on the modification of the LGOTU (Llei General d’Ordenació del Territori i Urbanisme / General Law of Urbanism and Re-ordering of the Territory).
Finally, the Government and the Mayors have agreed to continue working closely together on other subjects of interest to citizens, such as the Single Tax Agency, the National Transport Authority, waste management, and data exchange on housing and the property market.