Locals up in arms after petrol station plans are revived in Mijas

Just when Mijas town hall seemed ready to definitively shelve the licence for the petrol station planned for the Avenida de Mijas, in the El Coto area, which was strongly opposed by the locals, the project has been revived by the development company. The council has now begun the process of studying the health impact assessment (EIS) of the petrol station - the very document the municipal government had previously cited as missing when it initiated proceedings to revoke the licence requested by the Consejo Consultivo advisory council of Andalucía.

The territorial health delegation in Malaga asked the town hall to carry out this public consultation exercise. As the project is located at a distance of less than 1,000 metres from residential areas, the preparation of the EIS is mandatory.

The project promoter - Galp - submitted a health impact assessment (VIS) document to the town hall on 25 June. However, almost a month later, the local government board agreed to review the granting of the work licence for the petrol station, initiating the procedure for its cancellation. On 28 July, the territorial health delegation requested the town hall to proceed with the public information process for the project.

The delegation is the body that must rule on the validity of the document submitted by the company and it cannot do so without the public procedure. Once it has done so, the delegation has one month to issue the so-called EIS report, which is not only mandatory but also binding and in which it can also impose corrective measures.

When the local government team initiated the procedure to cancel the building permit, it was assumed that this was the end of the project. "This is good news for the residents who were clearly against this installation because of the proximity to their homes; we got down to work to resolve this matter and we have succeeded," said mayor Ana Mata.

Mijas town hall has now declined to comment on the new development, given the possibility, at least on paper, that the document presented by the company and drawn up by a specialised consultancy, may receive the approval of the territorial delegation.

The news is a bitter pill to swallow for the 'No a la gasolinera. Protegemos El Coto' platform, which was set up more than a year ago to stop the project. "It is barely a metre and a half from the residential area, with three schools less than 300 metres away. There are nine other petrol stations within a kilometre and 17 within two kilometres," argued the protest group.