The fight continues at Vila Real de Santo António Council as the current executive today announced the opening of an official inquiry into illegalities in previous planning decisions that has left the council at risk of bankruptcy.
The action focuses on planning permission awarded to various projects during the previous mayor’s period in office which have been declared illegal by the Loulé administrative court.
Several housing developments in three parishes may need to be demolished and the owners compensated as the council, acting on the recommendations of the head of planning who also is the former mayor’s wife, gave permission in contravention of the established framework for the VRSA Municipal Master Plan (PDM).
At issue are about a dozen projects built between 1997 and 2005 whose illegality already has been established by the court and for which the court now says the land in question should be returned to its original state, meaning the buildings need to be demolished.
For the current mayor of VRSA, Luís Gomes, it is totally unacceptable that the municipality now has to shell out millions in compensation to owners and contractors due to past decisions and poor technical advice given during the reign of the previous mayor, António Murta.
This will “put the city council at risk of bankruptcy, mortgaging the future of the county," according to Gomes, who added that "this week we will start a full investigation to establish all those responsible and see what type of action can be taken to in order to safeguard the interests of the municipality and property owners while complying with the law."
According to the mayor, the decision only now to proceed with the investigation is because it is only now that the council can assess the size of the pay-out that it may be forced to make, an estimated €100 million.
The buildings in question include urbanisations in Vila Real itself, two de-luxe buildings in Monte Gordo where one has too many floors and another is in the wrong place, several buildings at the Monte Rei Golf and Country Club, a property in Cevadeiras and some homes in Manta Rota.
António Murta says that despite the court’s decision, the whole story is a pack of lies and that owners have nothing to worry about, although it is not clear how he has come to this conclusion as the ruling is clear, the buildings must go.
