According to Lagoa Council, the supermarket superpower Continente has no intention at all of backing down over its plans to build a new retail unit covering much of the Alagoas Brancas wetland site which has become the focus of a campaign to preserve this iconic part of the city’s natural heritage.The Save Alagoas Brancas campaign supporters have an opportunity to register opinions as a period of public consultation has started but Luís Encarnação, vice-president of the municipality, already has said there’s no way the Council is going to help the campaigners as the supermarket chain’s owner, the politically well-connected Sonae Group, would sue the municipality for damages.
Encarnação told the council Assembly on Monday, that the council has no legal leg to stand on but that the government could change the land designation at the stroke of a pen, “this is an old project, approved years ago, and if the municipality now took measures to prevent the project from being implemented, it would have to pay a very high amount of compensation.”
Despite the Council’s previous actions that have served to delay, confuse and thwart the campaigners, the politician assured the Assembly that, "we are on the side of the solution" and that the Council "will continue dialogue in order to try to preserve the wetland."
Two of the campaigners have a different opinion of the Council’s role in the struggle and, after reviewing the public consultation file in the Council offices, are more convinced than ever that the Council leaders are playing a duplicitous game.
One of the environment campaigners commented, “it has become more than obvious to us that this Council executive has absolutely no interest in preserving Alagoas Brancas and will ignore the January vote in parliament that recommend the area’s preservation.”
This issue did reach the Assembly of the Republic, and MPs already have approved two resolutions recommending that the Government safeguards the wetland area.
The local Council has other ideas and appears as unhelpful as it can be.
“We are faced with arrogance in ignoring the voices of the people, and the files available to consult are old and incomplete,” commented campaigner, Anabela Blofeld.
“In this so-called file there is only one report from the Algarve Environmental Agency dated 2013. There are no more reports from anyone else. This whitewashing continues with the use of an old report based on bird numbers in the summer of a drought year.
“In this file there is no information sent in by the Save Alagoas Brancas group, by the bird preservation society, SPEA or by the many other citizens concerned about the importance and wealth of the wetland area.”
The area in question, near the FATACIL exhibition park, has proved to be an important winter wetland for some rare species of birds, namely black ibis, according to environmental protection organisation, Almargem.
Blofeld added, “the Council continues to put economic interests ahead of the defence of heritage and nature. The Council president stated in September 2017 that it would be an abhorrence if the site was built on, but he continues to sign authorisations and does not negotiate alternatives.”
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The campaign group urges interested parties to visit the Council offices and ask for the Alagoas Brancas file as part of the public consultation and deliver opinions to the council leader.
Those interested may consult the licensing application at Lagoa Council, during normal business hours.
Observations, complaints and suggestions should be addressed to the Mayor of Lagoa, written in Portuguese and presented in the town hall.
This is a project that has been challenged by many citizens, who defend the preservation of that wetland area because, they claim, it is of great environmental value and many species pass through it, some of which are rare.
The issue reached the Assembly of the Republic, and MPs have approved two resolutions, through which they recommend to the Government that wetland of Alagoas Brancas is safeguarded.
