Disco ban binned as parties disagree

A PROPOSAL to ban discos from residential areas in Velez Malaga has failed because it did not count with the required majority vote. The idea proposed at plenary session by the Izquierda Unida Party was to amend the town plan, or PGOU, in order to satisfy town centre residents complaining about the noise and antisocial behaviour by groups of youths which gather outside discos at weekends.

The three political parties that form the coalition government (PSOE, IU and Grupo Independiente Torre del Mar) that run Velez-Malaga cannot agree on how to deal with the problem.

The draft also contained plans for a one year suspension of all existing license applications for new nightclubs in the municipality.

It was the abstention by Grupo Independiente Torre del Mar Party Tourism Councillor Javier Checa to back the proposal that led to the failed bid.

Meanwhile, the Popular Party voted against the move, and tried in vain to start proceedings to declare the El Copo and Calle Levante in Torre del Mar acoustically saturated areas.

Residents have lodged a petition at the Council’s Torre del Mar office signed by 30 local homeowners to protest against the opening of a nightclub in the area.

According to Town Planning Councillor Salvador Marin (IU), the Town Hall “has a duty to guarantee residents’ right to rest if it does not want to have to pay compensation like the €2,812,680 paid to the 18 owners at the Ipanema building for excessive noise caused over a 13 year period by leisure establishments in El Copo,” he said.

Yet Marin admits that the failure of the proposed changes to the PGOU leaves the town hall powerless to stop more nightclubs from opening in the town centre.