http://www.cbnalmeria.com/ Friday, June 6-12, 2008
Can't pay, won't pay
Vera council employing stalling tactics to avoid paying Priors, say lawyers
By Richard Torné
VERA council’s decision not to compensate the Priors over the demolition of their home has stunned the couple.
Ruling councillors decided at a plenary meeting last week to begin legal action against the regional government, arguing that the Junta and not the council should compensate Len and Helen Prior for the loss of their property.
Although Mrs Prior said she had been expecting the council’s decision, she expressed deep anger at the news. She said: “We’re disgusted because the mayor told everyone who cared to listen that we were going to get paid down to the last penny, knowing that he was never going to do this. It’s horrible.”
The Priors’ home was bulldozed on January 9 after a judge ruled in favour of the Junta’s appeal to revoke the building permit – which had been granted by the council - on the grounds that the property encouraged further development in a rural area.
The couple subsequently claimed damages from the council amounting to 690,000 euros, based on their bank’s evaluation of their property.
The basis for the council’s legal case stems from the conviction that the regional government’s unfavourable report was non-binding and should not have been acted upon by the judge.
Speaking to Costa Almería News, the mayor of Vera, Félix López, said it would be down to the courts to decide who was to blame. He said: “We’re convinced the Junta committed serious mistakes in their appeal to have the house pulled down.
“We’re doing this to defend the rights of Vera’s residents,” he remarked.
However, insiders expressed outrage that the council had decided to take the Junta to court at this late stage. Costa Almería News revealed in January that council documents showed the local authority had failed to inform the Priors for years of the Junta’s intention to challenge the building licence.
Many believe the decision is a cynical move to delay the inevitable, as a protracted court case could take between six to 10 years, including appeals before Spain’s supreme tribunal.
The Priors’ solicitor, Victor Martínez, confirmed that the couple would be seeking full damages from the council, adding that the mayor was “dragging his feet” over the case.
He said: “If the council thinks it’s the Junta’s fault they should pay the Priors first and then seek damages from the regional government.”
Vera council’s cash crisis
The Socialist party, the PSOE, this week revealed figures which shed light on the financial crisis facing the council.
According to the spokesman for the party, Pedro Fernández Céspedes, the council is nine million euros in the red, much of it caused by administrative waste.
Sr Céspedes, who has always staunchly defended the Junta in the Priors’ case, claimed that because of poor planning and the slump in the construction sector the council had only been able to raise 30 per cent of the expected four million euros in building permits.
In addition, two million euros had also failed to materialise in vehicle taxes.
To back their claims, the party released the council’s alleged expenditure, which included a total of 120,000 euros on phone calls over the year, as well as overspending by 40,000 euros on cultural events.
The Priors – living on the edge
The council’s decision not to compensate the Priors has outraged the couple. Len Prior said: “What annoys me the most is that we didn’t know about the town hall meeting until today (Monday), when it’s too late to do anything.”
His sentiments were echoed by his wife Helen, who said the council has not been in contact since the public demonstration organised in their support in Vera main square at the end of January.
“We’re very worried about our storage costs. We’ve got eight huge containers which we’re having to pay for and the bill for storage is continually going up,” she said.
The couple are now living in their garage which was saved from the bulldozers.
Trying to make day-to-day life more bearable, Len has also converted a tin shed into a shower room, “so that we can at least keep ourselves clean”.
Since January the couple have been faced with spiralling costs, including the installation of an 11,000-litre water tank, an electricity cable - which runs from a neighbouring house – and soaring storage bills.
The promise by mayor López to put them up in a flat shortly after the demolition was quietly shelved by the council after councillors failed to reach an agreement with the couple over accommodation requirements.
rtorne@canews.es