The Estepona Town Hall has approved a new ruling designed to effect the conservation and renovation of buildings. The intention is to improve the safety and attractiveness of the town by reducing and ultimately avoiding the existence of buildings in a state of ruin or bad repair—and this also extends to building plots, which are not to lie fallow and unkempt any more.
To assist in the management of the above, the Estepona Town Hall has also created a municipal registry of plots and derelict buildings, known officially as the Registro Municipal de Solares y Edificaciones Ruinosas. With the help of the registry, the authorities wish to discourage the practice of abandoning properties and put pressure on the owners of such edifices and building land to take better care of them.
The latter is defined as completing construction work within a reasonable timeframe and not letting projects stand half empty, andmaintaining buildings and land in a suitable state, as well as renovating derelict ones. All of this will have to be in compliance with the town’s urban planning directives.
The measure is a continuation of the beautification programme launched by Estepona’s mayor, José María García Urbano, when he first came to power several years ago, and it builds on the process of painting and decorating of houses, fixing of streets and squares, the creation of green zones and parks, and the building of new facilities such as the athletics stadium, the Orchidarium, town hall, car park and the Estepona hospital.
The desire is to continue improving the town and its appeal to residents, tourists and investors alike, and after beautifying the historic centre and adding attractive modern housing stock, Estepona has now also the ambition to clear up unsightly buildings and unkempt building land. Those property owners who do not comply with the new regulations will be put on the newly created register and have one year to complete building or renovation work. Failure to do so will result in legal procedures that could ultimately lead to the forced sale of the land or buildings in question.
The new powers give the town hall the ability to better control the urban landscape of the town and proceed with the plan to make it the ‘Garden of the Costa del Sol’. If successful, it will greatly diminish the number of derelict structures and building sites, and continue the wonderful process of renovation, modernisation and green zoning that has been taking place in Estepona for almost ten years now.
The measures will also reduce the easy entry into the market of land and property speculators and put the emphasis on partnerships with serious developers and investors, who work professionally and have the means to see projects through. Estepona wishes to guarantee a high standard of new construction, real estate and amenities, as well as nurturing its historic and cultural heritage and becoming a shining example of sustainable, ecologically friendly urban development.
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