Members of the platform attend a meeting convened by representatives of the Cieza City Council to discuss various issues related to the mega-farms. During the meeting, representatives from the platform gathered at the entrance to publicly demonstrate their opposition to these facilities.
The Save Our Land-No to Megafarms platform met with council members Antonio Moya, Francisco Saorín, and Antonio Ignacio Martínez Real to gather information on the administrative status of the modification to the general plan and to address a series of requests submitted by the Cieza residents' collective.
Initially, the platform expressed the citizens' anger and concern over the incomprehensible delay in the initial approval of the modification to the General Urban Planning Plan (PGOU), as well as the lack of coordination between the councilors and the mayor regarding public statements in the media and in meetings held with residents. Over the past two months, the institution's messages have been contradictory, logically provoking a certain indignation and anger among the population.
The councilors reiterated their political commitment to preventing the establishment of these mega-farms, recalling the steps they have taken since several license applications were submitted in 2018. On this point, the platform requested that the city council urgently require the Autonomous Community (CARM) to act more diligently in resolving the amendment to the General Plan of Urban Development (PGOU). They also lamented that "since the proposed amendment to the General Plan of Urban Development (PGOU) was submitted to the CARM in April 2019, neither the regional ministries have resolved the matter in a timely manner, nor has the city council taken any interest in the administrative progress of the amendment. This has resulted in the expiration of the license suspension period, and the developers of these licenses have challenged their granting." The city council committed to requesting the CARM and to calling an extraordinary plenary session as soon as the resolution is received.
Regarding the text of the modification to the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU), the platform's representatives urged a planimetric simulation of the document to determine the exact level of coverage/protection offered by the modification, a request that was echoed by the councilors.
On the other hand, the platform raised concerns about the proposed mega-farm in Cañada del Judío (Jumilla municipality), on the so-called Finca La Solana farm, which plans to occupy more than 400 hectares of land for the production and rearing cycle of piglets, with a capacity of 8,000 breeding sows and 36,000 piglets. They also warned about the devastating impacts of these facilities in Cieza due to natural drainage, since "just 2 kilometers from the farm where the pig farm will be located, the Rambla del Judío emerges, directly connected to the Segura River, and which also sits on the most important aquifer in the Segura basin, the so-called 'Calasparra Syncline Groundwater Body'."
At this point, the councilors proposed holding a meeting between the city councils of Cieza and Jumilla with representatives of the platforms from both towns to discuss the situation. The group urged the public representatives to study the tools the city council could use to oppose this project and hinder its development, requesting that "technical reports be prepared based on the environmental values of Llanos de Picarcho, impacts on surface and groundwater, impacts on the agricultural economic activity in the region, and potential development/exploitation of tourism, etc."
Finally, the platform praised the meeting for the specific commitments made by the Cieza City Council, but warned that "time is against us; we will not take our eyes off either the CARM or the City Council as long as the proliferation of these disruptive intensive livestock farming projects poses a threat to our territory and the neighboring regions."
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