PSOE requests that the public information process for the Levante Expansion Plan be declared void due to non-compliance with regulations

The Socialist Municipal Group at Benidorm City Council has submitted a document requesting that the Public Information process for the Integrated Action Program (PAI) for the Levante Extension Partial Plan 1/1 Sector be declared null and void due to serious invalidating irregularities in the publicity and how the PAI proposal was submitted for public information, which violates the fundamental right to public participation. They demand that it be carried out in compliance with the law. This plan contemplates the construction of 2,200 homes in addition to between 15 and 20 tourist complexes.

Socialist spokesperson Cristina Escoda explained that they consider the public information process, which the Levante Extension Plan is supposedly undergoing, to be null and void, since "there is no genuine public participation if the citizens cannot truly access, in a general manner and without conditions of any kind, the reliable information that is made available to the public."

In this regard, the councillor explained that Benidorm City Council has seriously breached the legal requirements that a public information process must meet to effectively serve as a genuine and appropriate channel for public participation, a fundamental right of citizens. Thus, she argued that the requirements established in the legal precepts regarding the minimum form in which such public information must be publicized have not been met, since the minimum publicity measures have not been implemented, with publications not appearing in the widely circulated print media in the municipality (digital media is not valid), nor even on the City Council's online notice board for public information. This circumstance entails the full nullity of the procedure followed and the need to effectively resubmit the draft PAI for public information.

In addition to this failure to comply with minimum disclosure requirements, as pointed out by the PSOE, how the alleged public disclosure was carried out implies a real lack of public access to the country's documentation being submitted for public information. They have verified that the documents on public display were not physically available to the general public, freely and without restrictions, for examination in the urban planning departments from Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. This constitutes the nullity of the public information process due to the failure to follow the publicity and materialization procedures, thereby violating the fundamental right to public participation enshrined in Article 23 of the Constitution.

On the other hand, the Socialist group has requested that aside from the alleged nullity of the PAI public information process under Article 47.1 a) and e) of Law 39/2015, given the quantitative and qualitative importance of this urban development for Benidorm, in addition to effective public participation, it is extended beyond the 45 business days established by applicable legislation. In this regard, the spokesperson pointed out that it would be advisable for the new PAI public information process to be extended for at least 90 days from the publication of the announcement in the DOGV (Official Gazette of the City of Benidorm).

However, Escoda emphasized that this is yet another example of how "things are not being done well in the Urban Planning department and at the City Council due to the lack of management by Mayor Toni Pérez and his entire team." "The mayor is more concerned with his photos and trips around the province collecting awards than with his city. He should dedicate more time to solving citizens' problems and working to do things right while complying with current regulations," he stated.