Regarding the basic aspects of the EUC, we would like to make the following comments:
1. The Urban Conservation Entities are a very complicated matter. Of the many that exist in Spain, it would be difficult for us to find two the same. Each EUC is a unique case.
2. The regulation of the EUC’s is very scarce, there is no specific legal norm for them, contrary to what happens, for example, with neighboring communities that are governed by the Horizontal Property Law.
3. The normative base is found in the Land Law, in the urban planning laws and their regulations. Its specific regulations are in the Statutes. For all the doubts that arise we must look for jurisprudence and doctrine, and there are many different decisions precisely because each case is also different.
Therefore, speaking out about the Costa Esuri Conservation Urban Development Entity is a delicate matter, which we will deal with in keeping with what we believe to be true for want of a better founded opinion.
PAYMENT OF FEES
Anyone who acquires a property in Costa Esuri, be it a plot or a home, is a member of the EUC and has to pay the fees that are approved in the Ordinary General Assembly.
This is because the EUC is compulsory, that is how it was established when the Partial Plan for Sector 1, Esuri Bridge, was approved, as required by the Andalusian Urban Planning Law.
It does not matter that it is not in our deed of sale or that it does not appear in the Property Registry. If we have a property in Costa Esuri, be it a plot or a house, we have to pay a fee for the conservation of the urbanization works.
However, and for everyone’s peace of mind, we have presented a request to the legal services of the City Council on August 8 to confirm this point.
Many of us know of neighbors who so far do not pay.
This happens for two reasons: because they do not inform the EUC of their property, as is their duty, or because the EUC Council does not comply with its obligation to demand the fees from all owners. This is very unfair, since only those owners who comply with the rules pay for the maintenance and cleaning of roads and garden areas that everyone enjoys. After time the installments are claimed with late payment interest.
In 2020, both the collection in the voluntary period and in the compulsory procedure, has decreased compared to previous years. We do not know what is happening in 2021 because the Council has not yet published the accounts for the first half, as it should have.
The EUC Council is not good at collection management, and as a consequence a few pay to keep the urbanisation maintained.
IN RELATION TO THE RECEPTION
The first thing to clarify is that when we say that the City Council must receive Costa Esuri, what this really means is that the City Council receives the urbanization works.
These works are: roads, including the sidewalks, sanitation, water supply and electricity supply infrastructures, gardening and trees.
The City Council must receive them when it considers that they are correctly done and in accordance with the planning that was approved in the Partial Plan, Sector 1, Esuri Bridge.
But receiving does not imply that the City Council takes charge of conservation and maintenance. Because here we have an Urban Conservation Entity.
This is very important. Because it is not the same as an individual who builds houses on a large plot, or Compensation Boards or private promotions.
In our case, and regardless of the reception, its conservation remains the responsibility of the owners, because we have an EUC.
We insist on this: The EUC Costa Esuri was created in advance because if it had not done so, this would be a ruin. But we have to know and assume this: In normal situations, it is from the reception of the urbanization works that the obligation to conserve and maintain arises.
It is for this reason that the Neighborhood Association has been insisting that the road works be done correctly. Because from the moment the City Council receives them, they are maintained by all of us.
Given the statements of the previous Mayor in Costa Esuri that the streets were received, which we doubt, on August 10 we registered a request with Urban Planning to provide us with copies of the certificates of reception of works in Costa Esuri that existed .
Regarding the DISSOLUTION of the EUC Costa Esuri, we must be very clear and accept that receipt is not the condition to dissolve the EUC.
For our EUC to be dissolved, the fact that the urbanization works have been received by the City Council, is only one of the many requirements that must be met prior to submitting it for approval by the General Assembly and later by the City Council.
The reception must have been made, but by itself, not only does it not force the EUC to dissolve, it is not a sufficient condition by itself to dissolve.
To understand this we have to accept, even if we don’t like it, that the EUC is not there for the urbanization works to be completed and received, but to preserve these works precisely after they have been completed and accepted or received by the City Council. This is so. This is the case for all EUCs.
Why?
Because, in our case, the planning for Costa Esuri was approved on the condition that the owners would be the ones to maintain and conserve the urbanization works. Because we are very far from the urban nucleus, we have a lot of landscaped areas whose maintenance is high cost and the City Council considered that the rest of the residents of Ayamonte, who live in narrow streets, who do not have gardens, etc., should not pay for these things that make Costa Esuri such a beautiful place, for example, due to the maintenance of the 176 palm trees that we have just on Avda. Juan Pablo II alone.
We like to live in Costa Esuri because it is a beautiful place. But you have to pay for it.
So you wonder, when will the EUC Costa Esuri dissolve?
We do not know. It cannot be known. There is no fixed term.
The dissolution procedure is always very long and very complicated. Municipalities are not inclined to dissolve, for different reasons, so that dissolution processes practically always end in the courts of justice.
Let’s say, for the moment, that the EUC Costa Esuri may be dissolved at some future point, but not near.
We must also reflect on what Costa Esuri we want. Because the promises they make to us do not matter, the reality is that the Ayamonte City Council does not currently have the necessary resources for the level of maintenance that the Costa Esuri that we have, needs.
It is possible, with a responsible and dedicated Governing Council, to reach agreements with the City Council that reduce our burden and at the same time improve our facilities and services. If our EUC were well managed, we might not feel as frustrated and we might even want it to stay.
We do not need image campaigns. We need information, complete and detailed accounts, transparency and effective management. We need the Governing Council to strictly comply with the statutory precepts and control changes of ownership. The image of the EUC is improved in this way, not with Facebook pages, which confuse information with images, which do not add anything that we do not know and that even above the Governing Council, exceeding its powers, agrees that all owners pay.
While this is happening, it is our responsibility that the EUC Council acts as the executing body for the agreements of the General Assembly, with transparency, informs about what it must report, manages the collection of fees from all owners, and takes care of what that he has to take care of, the streetlights that do not work, the children’s games that are destroyed and dirty, the dead trees, for example. The EUC Council is accountable to us, to the members of the EUC Costa Esuri. That we must demand of them
Ayamonte city council indeed sees Esuri as a cash cow. Every election we are promised all sorts by prospective candidates, but as per usual we are forgotten soon after these elections. Accountability has been an issue since the very start of the EUC. The only option to me is all owners of properties on Esuri should register their voting rights at Ayamonte city council. Only when we have enough voters, can we actually aspire to have a member of our community on the council who can fight our corner.
This is an excellent description of the problem that all residents and owners on Costa Esuri must face up to and deal with. The EUC has been a problem for as long as it has existed. The main issue is that it is not accountable to those who it exists to represent. Unless and until such accountability exists, the problems will continue. It is imperative that as many owners as possible, subscribe to and become active members of CERA as soon as possible. CERA must then demand permanent representation on the board of the EUC. This is in the very best interests of every owner. This situation cannot continue. Nobody benefits and everyone loses. To anyone who reads this, please do the simple thing and give your support to the executive committee of CERA. These people are doing a great job holding things together but they desperately need your support. Terry McGuire
This is an excellent summation of what is thought to be the current position with the conduct of the EUC in all its various forms and its wholly inadequate Membership – with an occasional rare Star over the last decade. We know who the Stars were. The EUC has failed with its poor level of Accountability, it’s non-existent collection of fees process and it’s complete failure to ensure and demand the Town Hall properly accounts for various bonds held by them. To say that one is “lost” beggers belief.
As is known Pam and I are only occasional Visitors to CE and tend to just take things as we find them – coming down in Oct hopefully – when we would like to be given the opportunity to get an update on Collection of Fees Activity and Reception of Works.
Congratulations to whoever produced the above document.
Stay safe Folks.
Excellent summary of the situation. Let’s hope that this clarification does not generate arguements but revenue in the form of increased fee income.