After ten years, the file for a development project in Bonaire (Alcudia) has been closed by the Balearic Environment Commission. The developer has been unable to present documentation related to potential fire risks and the use of water, so the planned development of 200 lots by the sea has been dropped and is unlikely to be revisited. It was also to have been in an area of special natural interest.
Back in 2004, the Council of Majorca, conscious of the environmental aspect, reallocated land for development from Bonaire to a site near to the Horse Roundabout in Alcudia. This was to be for a hotel, but the processing of the plan for Bonaire went ahead nonetheless. Last year, the environment commission attempted to close the file, arguing that the development would need to in any event be adapted to later regulations in respect of sewage systems and supplies of water and electricity.
This was opposed by the owners of the land. The president of the commission, Antoni Alorda, was exceeding his powers, they claimed. This was because urban planning considerations were being taken into account and not solely environmental ones. The commission accepted this appeal and gave the owners a further period for resolving issues, such as the fire risks. This period has now ended, and the documentation has not been supplied.
Alorda says that development projects such as the Bonaire one need to follow planning criteria for the twenty-first century and to not be like developments from the 1960s. Alcudia town hall, meanwhile, is being asked to consider the future of the land and also the possible hotel development in Puerto Alcudia.