In a statement sent to The Portugal News on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the party explained “PAN has been accompanying this situation since work started and is working alongside residents and associations that oppose the destruction of the lagoon, and was also at a protest organised by citizens as well as sending its opinions to the ICNF [Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation] and the local Mayor regarding the matter.”
It continued: “Since these actions did not have the desired effect, yesterday [Tuesday, 22 February], in a hearing with the Minister of the Environment, the PAN MP asked the Minister directly if he was aware of the situation and asked for a reassessment of that ecosystem, alerting him to the importance of the situation.
“The minister was apparently unaware of the situation and said he would send the APA [Portuguese Environment Agency] to the site.”
Meanwhile, Lagoa council has confirmed it has emitted an embargo on the development after the company behind the work exceeded “that permitted by law.”
“Work is stopped due to an embargo that Lagoa Council issued based on the fact that the entity overstepped the work that they were legally allowed to execute”, the Town Hall replied in response to questions posed by The Portugal News.
It further confirmed “the Mayor has met with members of a recently-created bird-watching and defence association that opposes the project, and in those meetings alternative solutions have been discussed to accommodate the birds affected.”
“It is also true that those meetings have been held in a climate of frank cooperation in search of possible solutions”, it added.
In a statement sent to the wider media, Lagoa Council highlighted its stance as a sympathiser of environmental causes, stating it is “naturally sensitive to environmental matters, particularly regarding the wetlands due to their role in recharging groundwater, altering floods by acting as a buffer, stabilising sediments and food production, or as a wildlife habitat.”
But, it said, it is “also and mainly sensitive to the Services of Ecosystems.”
The council recalled the timeline leading up to the recent levelling of the wetlands, which started in 1994 when all local land-planning authorities gave a revised Municipal Land Plan their
approval.
In 2007 new regulations were passed for the licensing and use of plots, determined as the UP3, which currently governs the plot of land in question.
Under the UP3, and in 2017, the owner of the land “informed Lagoa Council (as it does not require a licence) that work would start on ‘clearing the land’, which was considered by inspectors as being of ‘little relevance’ and the owner was therefore not prevented from doing so.
“It has now been verified that the owner of the land has overstepped the work declared and has changed the existing topography of the land, and therefore can no longer be seen as a mere ‘clearing of little relevance’, and for that motive, on 8 February 2017, Lagoa Council decreed an embargo on the work in question.”
Concluding, Lagoa Council said “from the moment the UP3 was approved in 2007 the process became unstoppable by Lagoa Council, and only an entity such as the APA/ARH [Portuguese Environment Agency] could, for environmental reasons, stop the development.”
However, those authorities reportedly gave the project the green light after determining that the water found on the land was of bad quality, leaving the single instruction to take care with the maintenance of a ravine which channels drained water into a stream in Alcantarilha.
“Therefore, since the allotting process complied with all the legislative requirements of the Planning Unit, all the Council could do was issue an approval”, it explained.
The council reiterates the embargo remains in effect.
Meanwhile, a petition launched against the construction of a supermarket on the natural wetlands has reached close to 1,000 signatures, and another protest is planned at the site for this coming Sunday, 26 February, at 10am.
The Lagoa wetlands are believed to be “one of the last fresh water wetlands left in the Algarve,” and are being levelled allegedly to make way for a supermarket belonging to national group Sonae (Continente/Modelo).
The spot is said to be home to many species of birds, which flock to the land every year rest and breed there.
These are said to include glossy ibis, kingfishers, reed warblers, ducks and other wildfowl as well as small mammals and insect life.