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9TH - 15TH JULY 2019 - EDITION 795
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Your Essential Weekly Read
Demolition about to begin Following our recent story about the frustration of the victims of the house collapse in Playa Flamenca, it now looks like the demolition work is about to begin and could start this week. Local people affected by the house collapse in Playa Flamenca last September had contacted the Costa Blanca People to vent their frustration at the lack of progress. In addition to the owners of the houses that collapsed, several other families have been unable to live in their houses and will not be able to move back in until after the collapsed properties have been demolished and the area made safe. Therefore, for all involved this is welcome and long-awaited news. Once the demolition has been carried out by the Town Hall, the home owners of the collapsed house will be billed for the work and with the quote for the demolition coming in at around 40,000
euros it’s not cheap and none of the owners have the kind of money needed to cover their share. Added to that, there are still unanswered questions around the reason for the collapse and therefore liability for any work. The owners are questioning why they should have to pay at all and the insurers have refused to pay out until a definitive cause is formally given by the Town Hall technicians. Rumours are rife with everything from illegal building, building on the water table to dodgy home improvements being blamed. Luckily, at the urbanisation AGM the committee voted to cover half of the cost
of the demolition and then a group of ‘interested parties’ agreed to fund the remaining half. The constant delays had resulted in the ‘interested parties’ threatening to withdraw their half of the funding, however, sources say that the funding is in place as originally agreed. The incident happened in Calle Limon, urbanisation Laguna III, directly opposite the Citrus Centre in Playa Flamenca. And although there were four houses directly affected, a row of 15 properties were evacuated by the emergency services. According to witnesses, the ground opened up creating a sinkhole which swallowed up part of the property’s facade. The first floor of one of the properties collapsed onto a wall and patio area bringing down with it a conservatory and other adjoining walls. Two adjoining houses were split in two, with one practically demolished, with serious material damage to two others.
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