Interview with Bernardino Montserrat

Interview with Bernardino Montserrat

On the 14th of March last, we had the pleasure of interviewing Sr.Bernardino Montserrat, who is an engineer and specialist in projects of urban development.
During the course of the interview Sr. Montserrat made it clear that for various reasons he is in favour of some development at the l'Ahuir beach. The first of these is that the intervention, (complying with all the different planning and environmental protection laws) would be very positive for the economy of Gandia, complementing the present type of tourism offered by the city while also helping to protect the natural environment of the beach. This affirmation was quite difficult to understand, so Sr. Montserrat went on to explain this point more carefully.

He considers that at the moment the land of l'Ahuir is quite degraded, with illegal building, ruins and abandoned agricultural plantations, etc. He considers that an urban development, including the building of a few luxury hotels on part of the land would enable the rest of the area’s natural environment to be restored. This is because the coefficient for construction is so low that these buildings would only occupy a small area, meaning that the remaining 80% of the l`Ahuir could regenerate and be joined to the natural parkland of the marsh.

Actual situation of the l'Ahuir beach

CURRENT LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT

At the present time the l'Ahuir beach is in its natural, virgin state. Its future seems to be either as an urbanised, fully developed beach or one where low-level development maintains part of its original, natural aspect.

In 1983 the beach was classified as "urban" meaning that it could be developed and the owners at that time saw the possibility to profit from this, however problems arose three years later in 1986, when Spain became part of the European Union.

The beach is separated from Gandia's main beach, but with every kind of services available and is suitable for the practise of water sports and nudism.

Situated in the province of Valencia, it is one of the beaches of the Valencian Community and is 1.760 metres long. The beach projects back from the shoreline by an average of 70 metres. The density of occupation is low with the beach being separated from the promenade of Gandia’s main beach.

The beach consists of fine, golden sand, with good bathing conditions in calm water without strong currents. The area behind the beach has vegetation and is protected. The beach has been awarded the FEE blue flag. There is a lifeguard service, and a three colour flag system to warn of dangerous bathing conditions.

REGULATIONS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
There are two directives of the European Union that affect the situation of the beach, the first being the Birds Directive regarding the conservation of wild birds. The second is the Habitat Directive for the conservation of natural habitats and their flora and fauna.

DIVERGENT OPINIONS
After interviewing technicians, university professors and representatives of the local government, it is clear that there are three different opinions:
1. Many of those interviewed agreed that the current situation of the beach cannot continue and that action needs to be taken. The divergence of opinions can be resumed as:
a. Those who favour an environmentalist approach; helping the beach ecosystem to recover and linking it to the nearby marsh to create a single natural park that would include the marsh, the dunes and the space between them - which would be the area between the dunes and the road (the area currently approved for development). This would require the purchase of this land from the current owners (private and companies)
b. Those who believe that by applying the current local, national and European planning regulations it would be possible to have some development in the space between the road and the sand dunes. This would result in an area that is natural but also includes some building; generating wealth and creating jobs while protecting the beach.
2. The alternative option would be to take no action at the moment, leaving the area undeveloped until further studies and investigation show what the best course of action should be, so that nothing irreversible is done now that might be regretted in the future.

Projects for the l'Ahuir beach

Projects for the l'Ahuir beach

There are a total of 11 projects for the beach:

1. l'Ahuir Marsh: The hope is to transfer the building development to the so-called "private equipment" sector, thereby freeing the l'Ahuir zone from buildings. They hope to extend longitudinally the roads and parks from the exisiting beach to the area of l'Ahuir.

2. Argue: Buildings integrated into extensive natural spaces.

Unifying modernity and nature.  In the image the proposal for a low-rise residential development  between trees and large swimming pools with sculpted shapes. The proposed new buildings articulate with the pre-existing ones and with the tracts of natural space. Ahuir dunificat: The image proposes large longitudinal pathways, orginating from the roads of the beach parallel to the sea, crossing the area of action from North to South.  Pathways given height, above the roofs of the proposed buildings, in this way offering new perspectives towards the sea and the marsh.

4. Encounter with l'Ahuir: The buildings are concentrated along the Eastern, (the Nazaret-Oliva road) Southern, (the urban zone of the beach) and Northern (Xeraco beach) borders where the lowest density housing is situated.   The central space, free of buildings, has a golf course with a large lake. The proposal includes the extension of the wooden promenade between Gandia and Xeraco, with curious forms that meander between the sand dunes.   Nests of l'Ahuir: Proposes the erection of concrete structures covered by wood where, in the form of nests filled with birds (as shown in the image) the future buildings would be developed.  These superstructures barely touch the territory and are autonomous and independent of it

6. Rebirth of l'Ahuir: The proposal is for a large central space with lateral organic walkways.  The low-density housing discourses between spaces prepared for playing golf and green park areas with lakes and other aquatic structures. Ahuir sargantana:  The proposal is structures around the principal roads.  The idea is for a central road with curves running parallel to the sea, intersected by other perpendicular roads having the same, sinuous route.   Natural parks parallel to the sea and in contact with the urban area of Gandia beach would be respected and the project proposes a use of the land that combines open spaces with equipment. Labhuir: A proposal that  renounces the buildable area. With a schematic diagram, the project illustrates a proposal for the distribution of different uses in function of the pre-existences , concentrating the building in these.

9. Marjal fractal. An interwoven construction in the form of blocks aligned as though they were the sides of a triangle, through the base of which runs the main road, on which the accesses and parking for the proposed building is concentrated.  The rest of the sector is organised in a fractal mesh of pathways that combine greenery and water.

10.
Symphony of flora, water and fauna: The project is structured around three zones; toward the South, (Gandia beach) the proposal is for an area of entertainment and culture, to the North, (next to Xeraco beach) another area with hotels where relaxation and health dominate and in the central zone an area with low-density housing.  All of this is integrated with a road network, parks and water features, forming a variety of different scenery and environments.

11.
Between marshes and dunes: This proposal concentrates the building in the central zone of the project, precisely between the marshes and the sand dunes. The building layout takes the form of plots of land and the forms of the buildings adapt, with different aspects and changing widths according to the demands of the plot and the roads. Towards the East is an area where the greatest presence of water is found, and to the West the original state of the land is maintained.

The Radio Gandia web's has opened online voting to say which project like the most. now it seems that 4 and 10 are most like, there have been many votes, more than two hundred thousand, the signal of interest issue.