The plot of land adjacent to the Orihuela Costa Centro Salud is the only area where visitors to the centre, many of them old, infirm, and suffering from mobility problems, are able to park their vehicles off-road, but unfortunately, it’s appalling condition is just another example of the contempt in which the Orihuela City Council, particularly the Councillor responsible for Infrastructure, holds the residents of the coast.

The site, adjacent to the centre, would accommodate 30 or more vehicles but, despite regular promises to local resident associations, the council continues to sit on it’s hands, in recent weeks failing to respond to even more neighbourhood appeals.

Currently, many visitors driving onto the site scrape the underbody and exhausts of their cars on a raised stretch of paving, of which the council is all too aware, while the car park itself is composed of nothing more than dry earth, subject to flooding in even moderate rainfall.

According to local experts the materials needed to overhaul the car park would cost around 1,000 euros, a minimal amount that would make such a valuable contribution to the convenience of both local residents and the many dozens of people who attend the Medical Centre on a daily basis.

Currently, due to the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the number of users has skyrocketed, so it is more urgent than ever for the Department of infrastructures to carry out the work that was requested over 3 months ago, simply consisting of spreading a layer of gravel on the ground.

Unfortunately the local Association AVOCA said that “As with all the letters we send to this council department, we have received no reply.”

It is difficult for the users of this car park to understand the Department of infrastructures failure to act in the face of such an urgent requirement, many of whom are being forced to park their vehicles much too far away.

Images courtesy AVOCA