Two important reports were missing, and both reached the City Council last January, in favour of Benidorm's Ensanche Levante development plan, covering an area of 575,371 m2. This is the most important area left to be developed in Benidorm's Levante area with plans to build more than 2,000 homes and 20 hotels.
This development is promoted by the Urban Interest Group (AIU), which includes more than 70% of the land owners, and which is committed to maintaining the model that characterises the Valencian tourist capital: a more sustainable vertical construction that allows tens of thousands of square metres to be released for public facilities.
After more than five years of technical work, the document has been drawn up in accordance with the guidelines set by the Public Administrations – the Central Government, the Generalitat Valenciana and the City Council itself. During this time, several ministries and departments have been accepting and tweaking the land owners' proposal until they found a project that complies with all regulations. Development can now begin after the final approval on 27 March in the Benidorm City Council Plenary.
The last two reports, which have become definitive, were signed by the Directorate General for Cultural Heritage of the Regional Ministry of Culture and the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation. Both bodies approved the project, as it complies with and respects the provisions of their respective regulations. The first specifies that, once the works have begun, attention must be paid to the possible appearance of archaeological remains, so that there is no impact on the Valencian cultural heritage of an archaeological or ethnological nature.
The Júcar Hydrographic Confederation, for its part, ensures that water resources are available to service the area, and highlights that the large green areas planned will be irrigated with purified water. Another path now begins, which could be a long one, in which the promoters must draft the sector's urban development and redistribution of plots, which occupies an area of 575,371.20 m2 of land.
The project has reserved two plots for educational use, thousands of square metres for public facilities, a 60,000 m2 central park, 13,000 m2 of gardens and 23,000 metres of free pedestrian spaces.
The Ensanche Levante Plan allocates 65% of the land to public facilities, and the remaining 35% to residential homes and up to 20 new hotels, with a minimum height of 20 storeys, following the vertical nature synonymous with Benidorm that is praised worldwide for its sustainability.
The development of the 57 hectares will undoubtedly change the appearance of a very important part of the Costa Blanca's tourist capital, neighbouring the Levante area, very close to its most emblematic beach, and capable of hosting modern residential buildings and hotels to cover the needs of the area for decades. Today, that area is derelict.
The project takes specific criteria into account, such as the fact that the sector's neighbouring areas will preferably be used as leisure and recreation areas. The large park will have tree-lined spaces, which may be discontinuous, as a succession of small wooded areas. There will be a master plan for pedestrian and bicycle routes and for practising sports such as running, which may include meeting spaces to practise sports and open-air activities.
The park will have landscape and ornamental landmarks, as well as appropriate accessibility measures so that people with reduced mobility can enjoy the facilities. The urban development will be carried out with sustainable urban drainage system (SDUS) criteria, to promote rainwater collection to water and maintain the park. For this purpose, lagoons and ponds will be provided, where appropriate, that will act as regulating ponds, as well as landscaped spaces.
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