Dénia to grow to 50,000 inhabitants

The Dénia City Council has finalised its General Structural Plan, which will see the city grow to 50,000 inhabitants.

The approval of June 14 will now go to public consultation with anyone able to comment over the next 20 days. An exhibition will also be available at La Casa de la Marquesa showing the most relevant plans whilst providing people with a better idea of what the enlarged city will look like.

For the plan to be accepted the council will have to resolve all representations before going to the plenary session and to the Conselleria for final approval. Councillor for Urban Planning, Maria Josep Ripoll, has not set a date for the final conclusion, the expectation is that there will be significant questions and opposition to the plan.

To achieve the growth the city will allocate 50 hectares of residential land and 32 hectares for the growth of industry, businesses and other activities. The council has already given consideration to annual water consumption and has received a favourable response saying that there is sufficient availability to cover the growth.

Additional facilities will be needed for the port, for which 14 hectares have been allocated as well as a further 10,000 square meters for an intermodal station. Parking spaces are planned for Les Marines, Deveses, Hort de Morans and at the train station.

The plan also allows for two new colleges, one in the Torrecremada area and the other in Nova Dénia. In addition, the expansion of the IES Maria Ibars is planned inside. Similarly, there will be spaces to house four new infant and primary schools, which will be located in Nova Dénia, Torrecremada, Bosc de Diana and Sant Vicent Ferrer, in Les Rotes , after being expanded. The centres of La Xara and Jesús Pobre will also be expanded.

The council has also allowed for green spaces with a 13-hectare Alqueries park and a 3.7-hectare Gandia park. In this way, the criteria of more than 5 square meters of park per inhabitant and more than 10 square meters of gardens and play areas are met.

Currently, some 4,000 of the 6,000 hectares that make up Dénia are non-developable protected land and 871 hectares common non-developable rural land

Strong objections were raised when Dénia last laid out plans to grow the city, and with this plan to nearly double the number of inhabitants to 50,000 opposition is once again expected.

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