Some walls that are going to be demolished before the work. /
The municipal group sees irregular and insufficient that only the subsoil of the area affected by the works is studied
The municipal group of United for Mérida has asked the Junta de Extremadura to revoke the project to rehabilitate the Convento de las Concepcionistas. There is, according to United for Mérida, a breach of the Protection Plan and negligent action by the City Council and the Consortium.
The Convent is located in Zone I. Comprehensive surveillance, which means that any reform or demolition work on a building located in this delimitation is subject to a prior archaeological excavation of the entire plot.
According to United for Mérida, the Consortium has approved an archaeological intervention that is limited to control and monitoring tasks and excavation only in areas where the subsoil is removed. It is, in the opinion of the councilors, a partial, punctual and minor analysis.
“If an excavation were required for each ditch, the city would be paralyzed and there would be no minor works,” he clarifies.
“While any individual must undertake archaeological excavations when undertaking works of this nature in the center of the city, the City Council and the body created for the protection and promotion of our archaeological heritage flagrantly fail to comply with the regulations that apply to third parties” , criticizes the group of Álvaro Vázquez and Montserrat Girón.
The Consortium categorically denies any irregularity in the Concepcionistas’ file. The authorization to rehabilitate the space between the Arco de Trajano and Vaverde lillo is subject, in the first place, to monitoring during the demolition. In this demolition supervised by archaeologists, the current soil will be maintained and the subsoil will not be removed.
after the demolition
Once the non-relevant structures have been removed and before the works, there will be an archaeological excavation in the area of the site in which the subsoil will have to be removed. After this preliminary study, a binding report will be issued on whether or not the remains have to be integrated and the initial project changed, if necessary.
From the Consortium they believe that the resolution they issued for the Concepcionistas project leaves no doubt that the evolution will be conditioned to the excavation, which would be carried out in the areas where the subsoil is going to be removed.
It includes two phases. A first of demolition with monitoring and a second of rehabilitation with excavation.
Regarding the strictest measures for works in Zone I, the Consortium understands that if applied literally, it would be necessary for any promoter to present an analysis of emerging structures for any reform work and it would always be necessary to excavate, even in those that imply the slightest movement of earth in the subsoil. For example, in the reform of a toilet in which a trench is made. “If the Consortium always required excavation, the city would be paralyzed, because for each ditch an excavation would be necessary and minor works would be unfeasible,” he defends himself. “Perhaps that is what United for Mérida intends: Paralyze the city,” recriminates the organization in its final argument.
It justifies its decisions based on criteria that serve to adequately interpret and apply the Protection Plan for the city center.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.