Cuesta Meeting & New Park
As mentioned in the previous entry I went down to the opening of the new Padel Tennis Court in Zurgena last night to talk with Candido and discover what advice the solicitors had given.
There were quite a number of young local men who had a play on the new court whilst I talked to Candido. The solicitors advice very much supported our contention earlier in the day that the purpose of this court hearing is to try and involve more people in the legal process thereby keeping open the cases and making it look, to any examining Judge, that the people had instigated the actions, not the Junta. Their advice was to help people understand the process that would take place in the court e.g that the judge would be asking questions through a court appointed interpreter about the individuals property. The court would then ask the individual if they wished to declare an interest (a sneaky way of getting people to effectively denounce either the council or their builder) although there is no need to do so at this stage as any action can be taken regarding these issues at any time and probably best when a court decision is reached as to who is at fault. Otherwise if anyone signs any papers at court it may well create the situation where they will have to keep paying solicitors etc whilst that new process goes through the courts. I am informed that by not signing any papers they would not restrict their future possibilities of action. That is a decision for each individual to make based on their own circumstances.
The council's solicitors are actively going to pursue an initial action against the courts in view of the way these cases are being instigated as, they say, this is almost an abuse of process.
We had a meeting today with all the people from Cuesta de los Pinos and I advised people of the facts, as given to me, and tried to ensure that all those going to court are aware of what is going to happen and what the likely outcomes are.
I have to meet with Candido again Monday morning to discuss what we (the Town Hall) should do on Tuesday but I think I will be going to court together with Andreas as interpreter and at least the Council's solicitor and maybe other solicitors.
Comments
Jim
Sorry but in my opinion I think you are playing with peoples properties on the basis of what you are being told and believing every word. They may be right but these are the very people who have been part of the problem that has put so many owners in the position they are now in. If you are going to advise people not to sign or register their ‘interest’ you should first seek independent advise away from Zurgena. Appreciate that is not your role or a cost you should incur but you cannot accept all that you are being told as truth. Many of us thought we were being told the truth, even have the paper work to prove it, but like all other properties in the district we are now told we are illegal.
Please explain why my lawyer:
Please explain why my lawyer: when notifications from the TH stated that an action was being taken on a number of properties, which the TH failed to inform us of correctly, but the other people that did receive the notice were given only 10 days to register their interest: our lawyers informed us that under Spanish law you are entitled to register interest, even if the action is not directly at you, but if you do not then you might have no right at a later date. That you might even be deemed to know after a certain time if an action has been made. Not registering an interest might take away certain rights. We registered such interest and it had nothing to do with denuncia to builders or TH’s, that is something we might do later if we are told that we will remain illegal or classified as ‘return to dust’ (can’t think of the Spanish term at present).
So as far as I am concerned we have a conflict of information and I would much rather take my lawyers advise (not one in Zurgena) than one that is being paid for by the council and certainly not the advice of Candido who has informed you in the past that people are wasting their money going to lawyers to register interest because as far as he is concerned all properties are legal. That has yet to be proven!
What I fail to understand is that you are suggesting that now the Courts of Spain are working on behalf of the Junta to get property owners to start actions against their builders and TH’s (a sneaky way of getting people to effectively denounce either the council or their builder). If this is the case, we are in bigger trouble than I first thought. Courts do not create cases, cases are put to Courts.
The Mayor of Albox has stated that it could take 3 or 4 years to get many properties ‘legalised’, yet we are told in Zurgena that they hoped to resolve these issues by the next election which is in two years time. Jim, we don’t even have a PGOU to start off with like other districts, we are already six months behind on the inventory that was to be completed in Dec 08. How does Candido plan to get the issues sorted? How does he plan to convince the Junta that we have not exceeded the 30/40 rule which is crucial to any urbanisation development or PGOU? Tell it how it is, IMHO the first approvals will be for limited areas around the centre of Zurgena, then over several years he might be able (if still in power) add other urbanisations. Will not even go into the costs of the infrastructures that will be demanded in many areas in order to make them legal, who do you think is going to pay for that?
So by not registering your interest you may as far as we have been told, not be able to claim remedy for infrastructure incomplete or compensation should the worst happen. WE ARE TALKING SPAIN!!!!!