Ordino Council Unifies Major Protected Site for Development

Ordino's communal council approved a modification to the parish's Pla d’Ordenació i Urbanisme Parroquial (POUP) on Wednesday, unifying the 20-hectare L'Any de la Part site—one of the parish's largest protected areas, with a maximum buildable area of 36,000 square metres—into a single unit of action. The move, passed with abstention from opposition councillor Enric Dolsa of Units per Ordino, reverses a previous split into two units and returns to the configuration from the plan's initial public exhibition.

Dolsa expressed serious reservations about the change's legality six years after the POUP's definitive approval, describing it as a significant alteration for such a large parcel. He requested the legal report underpinning the decision, warned of risks that unifying the units could expand overall buildability, and said he would revisit the issue after review and pending Comissió Tècnica d’Urbanisme (CTU) approval. "I have many doubts this can proceed," he noted, while backing minor technical, grammatical, and graphic adjustments but questioning deeper motives.

Cònsol Major Maria del Mar Coma dismissed the concerns, insisting the adjustment qualified as a standard modification rather than a full revision, fully vetted legally. She attributed the prior split to a "misunderstanding" during the allegations phase, when the single owner sought to divide the protected land and reclassify the river-adjacent portion as residential. The council approved the division but rejected reclassification; the owner then opted to revert to the original unified protected setup. Coma highlighted advantages, including reduced visual impact by concentrating development near existing roads and lower elevations, avoiding new infrastructure, higher areas, and protected zones. Buildability remains capped at 450 square metres per 2,500 square metres of land, with grouping permitted—the owner could build less or not at all.

The council unanimously approved a 24,000-euro budget increase to secure full control of Prat de la Vilella parking through a five-year renewable contract, finalizing negotiations for the remaining third that had been at risk. Coma said talks nearly collapsed, noting, "We thought we wouldn't pull it off." The site, next to the sports centre, serves village-centre access and holds expansion potential. Parish parking rentals total 137,000 euros annually amid rising demand. Construction on Plana dels Camps parking, adding nearly 100 spaces, begins March 2 and wraps up by year-end.

Other measures passed unanimously: incorporating hunting rights into Vall de Sorteny park zones per its management plan; designating Serrera water intake as special use due to its concrete structure in protected land; and auctioning traditional cortons rentals, including Coma de Varilles and l’Hortell.