Évora. Promoter warns that a project of 950 houses may not even "get off the ground"
A project with 950 houses in Évora, with a detailed plan approved 12 years ago, may not even 'come off the drawing board', warned a developer, citing the change in the Municipal Master Plan (PDM), but the council rejected the argument.
![Évora. Promoter warns that a project of 950 houses may not even "get off the ground"](https://media-manager.noticiasaominuto.com/960/naom_598c396bdbab6.jpg)
© Global Imagens
![Notícias ao Minuto](https://cdn.noticiasaominuto.com/img/equipa/pessoa/lusa.png)
País Fogos
In statements to the Lusa agency, José Paulo Tavares, manager of a company that owns most of the land in this project, argued that, within the scope of the ongoing PDM amendment, the CDU management will have presented a proposal that "cuts two thirds" of the planned homes.
Read Also: Fires. Device in Portalegre with more elements and the same air resources (Portuguese version)
"The [detailed] plan took 20 years to make and is structured to be profitable. If they cut it, as they are trying to do, maybe there won't even be a project", warned the official.
The urban project, called "Moinho 2", plans to build 950 homes on a plot of land on the outskirts of the city, with an area of 30 hectares, of which 28 hectares are owned by this company, NT Imóveis.
According to José Paulo Tavares, the detailed plan, suggested by the municipality and paid for by the landowners, has been approved by the council and published in Diário da República since 2012, but the project has been postponed, first due to the financial crisis and, more recently, because of the covid-19 pandemic.
Currently, there are already "developers who want to invest, spend their money there and develop Évora", both national and foreign investors, he stressed, criticising alleged obstacles placed by the local authority.
In turn, the Mayor of Évora, Carlos Pinto de Sá, elected by the CDU, stressed to Lusa that the municipality "fully" complies with the detailed plan for the area that has been approved and denied that any changes have been proposed.
"What we have done is demand that the detailed plan be complied with", he added, emphasising that another developer, a housing cooperative, has asked for the configuration of an access from the industrial park to the future urbanised area to be changed.
In the detailed plan, according to the mayor, there is a construction of an underground passage, but recently this cooperative proposed that a viaduct be built over the railway.
"At the very least, Infraestruturas de Portugal has to be heard about this change to the detailed plan, proposed by them, not by us. Therefore, it is false that there is any change to the plan on our part", he stressed.
The manager of NT Imóveis pointed out that "more than 30%" of the homes are intended for controlled costs and lamented: "There is always something new from the political power linked to the PCP in order to make the project unfeasible".
"Sometimes it is done one way, sometimes it is done another, sometimes it is invented that people do not do it, sometimes a passage is invented, sometimes it is invented that there is a law, sometimes it is invented that it is done badly. The interest is not to do it", he criticised.
The mayor also made criticisms: "The developers did not take a step to implement the project until 2021/2022 and the fact is that, 10 years after the detailed plan, nothing had yet been done to promote the development".
Recalling that "Évora is in great need of housing" and that what exists is expensive - there are those who pay "900 euros per month, without a contract, for a [T3 type property]", he exemplified - José Paulo Tavares defended that "the development of the city depends on the development of the real estate sector".
Regarding the change from the underground passage to the construction of a viaduct over the railway line, the official admitted withdrawing the proposal as long as "the project has the dimension that was planned".
The manager of the company created a page on the social network Facebook entitled "Juntos pela Habitação Acessível" and launched the petition "Salvar a construção do projeto habitacional 'Moinho 2'", which already has 350 signatures.
Descarregue a nossa App gratuita.
Oitavo ano consecutivo Escolha do Consumidor para Imprensa Online e eleito o produto do ano 2024.
* Estudo da e Netsonda, nov. e dez. 2023 produtodoano- pt.com