The Sant Adrià de Besòs City Council has presented objections to the metropolitan urban master plan (PDUM) drawn up by the Metropolitan Area of ??Barcelona (AMB). In these allegations, they show their disagreement with the consolidation of potentially polluting activities such as the Tersa waste incineration plant or the combined cycle thermal power plant.
The allegations refer to the cessation of activity and the dismantling of the incinerator. According to the Councilor for the Territory of the City Council, Jose Gras, Tersa’s activity “is in urban disconformity”, since in 1971 its installation was approved provisionally, as he continues, “with administrative silence and a negative report from the municipal architect”.
“It is inconsistent to maintain these uses with the landscape, environmental, urban and social criteria” set by the metropolitan government precisely in the area where the urban expansion of Sant Adrià de Besòs is planned, argues the councilor.
The urban classification of the Tersa site, owned by the AMB, is number 7 (equipment), so the consolidation of the incinerator would present serious doubts due to an alleged breach of metropolitan urban planning regulations.
As for the metropolitan solidarity advocated by the AMB, from Sant Adrià they remember that “we have been burning all the metropolitan garbage for 50 years”, something unusual in a population of less than 4 km”. That is why the City Council advocates for “rethinking waste management” in the metropolis. In this sense, it is committed to moving the incinerator from the coast. The Consistory recalls the existence of several studies promoted by Barcelona Regional and, aware that no municipality would be willing to take on this kind of infrastructure, from Sant Adrià they understand that “the only possible location would be the Zona Franca”, a space where the impact on the urban core would be smaller.
The consolidation of the incinerator in the PDUM, at the discretion of the municipality of Besòs, is inconsistent with the project of the impulse that is intended to be given to the metropolitan avenues, the urban complex of the three chimneys, the hotels or the Port Forum itself. Keeping the incinerator in its current location would mean “being less than 500 meters from schools, health facilities and new homes”, so they reaffirm the fact that “it makes no sense to consolidate this infrastructure”.
The municipality of Sant Adrià de Besòs is immersed in a transformation process that foresees growth up to 50,000 inhabitants within 10 years. “80% of the city’s growth is expected in the area of ??the Tersa plant”, the City Council points out.
The local government of Sant Adrià expects the AMB to attend to its allegations and, in the event that they are rejected, they will take the appropriate measures. In this sense, Jose Gras admits that “we do not want, between administrations, to go through the judicial process and least of all with the Metropolitan Area of ??Barcelona”, but they do not rule it out to defend their interests. “From the AMB, the administration of which we are part, we expect understanding and collaboration”, he points out. Another alternative proposed by the urban planner, in case the allegations are not accepted, would be to “vote against the provisional approval”.
From Sant Adrià de Besòs they conclude that “it is enough to be the sewer of the metropolitan area and especially of Barcelona”.
