The non-compliance and irregularities of the private developers have led 2,000 people to live in two urbanizations that, despite being promoted at the time as exclusive, lack, among other things, basic public lighting services. The problem of La Quinta Vieja and La Quinta Nueva, in the municipality of Santa Úrsula, remains unsolved, in the case of the first housing complex for 40 years and in the case of the second, for 15 years.
The residents of La Quinta de Chimaque have taken a new step in this long and complex fight to bring the light to its streets and improve security. On this occasion they met with the common representative, Rafael Yanes, to mediate the conflict between the promoters and the City Council. The president of the residents’ association, José Andrés Pérez, stated that “the deficiencies in infrastructure and services remain unremedied.”
The problem is very complex and similar to what occurs in other parts of the Island such as Tenbel, in Arona. The developers did not comply with their urban planning obligations, the City Council therefore refused to receive the common areas and as a consequence, the streets of both urbanizations and other shared spaces are still considered private, so all actions – including lighting – must be carried out by the company or the owners.
The mayor of Santa Úrsula, Juan Acosta, makes it clear that the City Council’s intention “has always been to resolve the situation” and “provide the residents with the services they request.” «I understand your demands but the way things were done at the time we cannot provide these services until we receive the common spaces. The regulations require it. And what we want is to definitively resolve the situation so that the City Council and those affected have maximum guarantees,” he details.
Acosta details that they have met on multiple occasions with the compensation board of both developments, which depends mainly on a large construction multinational, but they always run into the same problem: “They say in the documentation that the works have been received when clearly It is not like this. And the City Council cannot accept it. Fed up with the disagreements with this company, the Sauzal municipal government has put the solution in the hands of the public company Gestur, dependent on the Government of the Canary Islands. For the definitive exit, the promoter has to meet a series of requirements. If not, it will be legally impossible, according to the mayor, for these developments to be received, the common areas to pass into the hands of the City Council and services as in demand as public lighting to be implemented.
Neighbors accuse the City Council of “lack of communication.” Juan Acosta denies it. «We met for the last time before Christmas and we have set out to meet again in the near future. We have always welcomed the neighbors and have done “Everything possible to solve the problem, but everything must be done within the framework of the law and the developer must meet a series of requirements,” specifies the Santaursul mayor.
The neighbors remember that both the Government of Canary Islands As the Tenerife Council They have expressed their willingness to participate in a dialogue table. “Given the lack of communication with the City Council, we once again turn to the common representative to mediate,” concluded José Andrés Pérez.
