The City Council of Colmenar Viejo will deploy environmental informers at random locations and times to address questions about the private biowaste plant project, which will process up to 75,000 tonnes annually.
The City Council of Colmenar Viejo will launch an informational campaign in the coming weeks regarding the privately initiated biowaste treatment plant project. The main measure involves environmental informers who will be present on the streets at random locations and times throughout the municipality to explain how such facilities operate and answer residents' questions.
The informers do not represent the companies promoting the project, which is privately initiated and developed on private land. The campaign is informational and educational in nature, aimed at providing understandable and accessible technical information.
The mayor of Colmenar Viejo, Carlos Blázquez, has explained the purpose of the initiative:
We will provide all the information necessary for residents to be fully informed and to resolve any questions they may have. In light of a matter that we understand generates interest and concern, it is our duty to offer information, documentation, and answers with absolute transparency. Informing is not convincing; it is ensuring that each resident can know the project and form their own opinion based on verified information.
Additionally, the City Council will distribute an informational publication to all households detailing the main characteristics of the facility, the most frequently asked questions, and access to the public documentation of the file. The municipal website has published over fifty documents regarding the administrative processing.
The file has followed the legally established procedures. The construction license was granted by the Local Government Board after receiving favourable technical reports and verifying compliance with the requirements. The City Council has published documentation regarding the urban qualification and the construction license.
The mayor has defended the municipal actions in this regard:
Our duty as representatives of all residents is to comply with the Constitution and the legislation. If an individual requests a license and meets the legally established requirements, with the corresponding favourable reports, the Administration must resolve in accordance with the law. Acting otherwise, without legal justification, would mean making an arbitrary decision contrary to the legal framework.
Blázquez added that transparency also involves informing when the matter is complex:
We can understand that there are doubts and concerns, and precisely for that reason, now that the construction license has been granted, we want to explain everything and make the documentation available to residents. Transparency means informing even when a matter is complex, listening to concerns, and responding with data, technical reports, and verified facts.
The project includes a maximum treatment capacity of 75,000 tonnes annually of separately collected biowaste. The published documentation indicates that slurry and animal remains will not be processed.
The facility will operate using closed circuits and sealed enclosures, without open basins. The previous plan for an open leachate basin has been replaced by a closed and covered system that allows for the recirculation of its contents, a modification required by the Government Team to prevent leaks into the soil or aquifers.
The City Council will maintain oversight within its competencies and will require compliance with the conditions of the authorisations. In the event of non-compliance, incidents of odours, or other nuisances, it will exercise the legal tools at its disposal to demand corrective measures and, when legally appropriate, urge the suspension of the activity.
Residents who wish to consult the complete file can do so on the municipal website, in the public information section of the biowaste treatment plant.
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