JAVEA TOWN HALL RESTRICTS GARDEN RUBBISH BONFIRES TO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION PLOTS

News

Press Release / 2012-03-06 08:41:13

Garden owners may deposit their trimmings in Ramblars at no cost.

Javea. Friday, 24th February 2012. The Javea Town Hall has approved a new Ordinance to regulate agricultural burning in the municipality which prohibits any industrial and private burning that is not directly related to agricultural activity. Professional gardeners are no longer permited to start fires, but private residents will be able to deposit their garden trimmings at Ramblars at no cost, according to the Services Department. Professionals in the municipality may also use this area of transfers upon payment of the corresponding fee.

With the new Ordinance, which was adopted unanimously at Thursday's Full Council Session and is now in the claims and appeals phase, the Executive is responding to the long-standing complaints of residents and neighborhood associations, such as the Inter Sociedad de Hispanófilos de Balcón al Mar or Montgó urbanizations, who have been reqesting this ban for over a decade in order to reduce the risk of fire and avoid odors and fumes in residential areas.

It also restricts the burning activities to certain areas of the municipality (Pla, camí Cabanes and les Valls) and limits them to days when there are no weather conditions likely to cause risk of fire.

According to the new Ordinance, burning permits will be granted by the Agriculture Service (in the Portal del Clot) only for plots of agricultural production at least 500 meters away from forest land, in authorized burners, with the necessary means to control any fire hazards, and from dawn until 11 a.m., when the fire must be completely put out. These permits may be requested if the trimmings are from farming activity and they are burned on the same farmland. Owners of nurseries and garden centres in the official register of producers, traders and importers of plants or plant products of the Conselleria de Agricultura may also apply.

Burning is prohibited from 1 to 31 August, Sundays and public holidays and any day when the wind exceeds 30 kilometres per hour, the temperatures go over over 30 degrees or in the occurrence of thermal inversion, i.e. when the temperatures of the atmosphere are higher than the earth, which prevents a verticle column of smoke and causes the smoke to spread horizontally, with the resulting inconvenience to the neighbours.

The Ordinance also regulates the economic sanctions which, regardless of other criminal or administrative liability, the Javea Town Hall may impose on those who violate the new rules, ranging from 60 to 600 Euros when they are minor infractions; from 601 to 1,500 Euros for serious infractions, and of 1501 to 3000 Euros when the infraction is considered very serious. Also, if the activity causes any damages, these are calculated on the basis of the cause of the damage, the cost of the restoration of the damaged, the market value of the damaged property and the illicit benefit obtained.

With the new Ordinance, the 1996 burning Plan is repealed.