The Les Rotes tower will continue for the moment, but the Dénia City Council and the residents agree to seek a solution in a new meeting
The controversial 30-meter iron tower of Les Rotes will continue. Or at least for now. During the neighborhood meeting on Tuesday, it was the main topic, for which they spent an hour in session without reaching much consensus. A large number of residents showed up at this meeting, willing to get the antenna structure removed and to get some answers from the City Council that, they say, they had been denied. However, from the consistory, aware of the concern, they also reinforced the representation at the meeting not only with the usual managers of the neighborhood, but also Maria Josep Ripoll, Councilor for Urban Planning, and the mayor himself, Vicent Grimalt, were present.
Mobile coverage in Les Rotes is an issue that has been tricky for a long, long time. Last year, a large part of the residents of the area raised their voices and showed their indignation in all possible ways at the lack of coverage in the area as the telephone antenna was removed. Until that moment he was on the roof of the Los Molinos building. Due to the height of the block of flats, the antenna was much more discreet than the one that has now been proposed, since it did not require any tower. But the contract with the farm ended and the telephone company did not reach a new agreement with the owners.
The provisional solution to provide coverage to the affected residents was to install a portable antenna in the Les Rotes public car park, which was commissioned by another telephone company after reaching an agreement with the council. But it is Vodafone that is responsible for providing coverage to that area by placing an antenna, to which the rest of the companies get hooked, so it continued looking for a place to place it. And he found it, to the misfortune of the surrounding neighbors.
A hidden installation to avoid discrepancies
The owner of a house near the main road accepted the offer and planted a 30-meter iron tower on her land. Nothing discreet. The immense structure is precise, because if it does not reach that height it could not cover the entire area. After all, it is a single-family home whose roof is not high enough to perform the function that the Los Molinos building did.
Thus comes the current problem: it is a grotesque. The immense tower completely breaks the landscape of an area so close to the natural park, which on the other hand had already been desecrated by allowing the construction of tall residential buildings. Cement can become just as ugly as iron. But that was other years.
The tower, in addition, was built in a hurry to try to avoid complaints, the residents say. After Vodafone presented a responsible declaration, as confirmed by Ripoll last night, they even worked at night with spotlights to have it installed before someone could stand up. The problem with an element of that size is that it destroys the landscape and many families, as this newspaper published in decemberNow they look out their windows and it's the first thing they see. Those now affected fear that their land will lose economic value, but also for their health, as some indicated.
The antenna is not yet installed on the tower, so the residents have not yet given up and insist that it be removed and relocated to a place where it will not disturb the landscape. On the other hand, it is assumed that those who claimed coverage a year ago agree with this installation. A tricky subject, as we said, that pits one half of Les Rotes against the other.
City Council and neighbors will seek an agreement in a new meeting
From the City Council they listened to all the complaints from the neighbors and remembered that they had not installed the antenna, since it is an agreement between a private company and a private owner. However, several neighborhood representatives claimed that they do have the resources to revoke the permit and urge the removal of the tower. According to the consistory, they were only notified that they had found a plot to place it after many months of searching and that they later presented the aforementioned responsible declaration. Prior to this, the local government itself mediated to try to place the antenna in Las Viñas after the refusal of Los Molinos, without success. They insisted that for them, too, the option of using the roof of a large building was the best.
After an hour of heated conversation they decided to put an end to the topic since there were more issues in the neighborhoods to attend to. At the moment without agreement, but neither with the door closed. Both Ripoll and Grimalt himself proposed holding a private meeting with them to deal solely with that issue, collect all the documentation and try to find a joint solution in their role as mediators. The neighbors will also attend with the hope of being able to see the file that they have requested so much. So, until it arrives, the tower will continue.