Málaga approves groundwork project for Hermanas Hospitalarias expansion

The expansion of the Hermanas Hospitalarias mental health centre in Málaga's Segalerva area is taking a key step this week. According to Diario Sur, the board of the Gerencia Municipal de Urbanismo (the city's planning department) is due to approve the urbanisation project for the land on Thursday. The main building licence has still not been granted.

Key facts

• Approval: the urbanisation project, including a perimeter road, is on the agenda of Urbanismo's governing board this Thursday.
• Still pending: the building licence, four years after the council approved the planning file needed to fit the project in.
• New capacity: 120 places for people over 16, plus a day centre with 20 places.
• Total beds: the centre would reach 458 beds or places.
• Jobs: the new residential centre would create 112 posts.

What the approval allows

Diario Sur reported that the approval lets the Hermanas Hospitalarias begin preparation work around the existing complex. The land covers 22,324 square metres.

The works include removing a top layer of unstable ground up to two metres deep, which will then be filled and consolidated. According to the paper, this is meant to give firm foundations for the road and new pavements.

The project also includes a complete renewal of the centre's wastewater network and a new stormwater collector. Diario Sur said the drainage is designed to also serve neighbouring plots, benefiting the Policía Local station car park and the adjacent football pitch.

Streets and landscaping

The approved plan moves the pedestrian crossing on calle Sotomayor to a stretch where the pavement meets accessibility width rules. It also includes a landscaping plan agreed with the Parques y Jardines department.

At the request of the cleaning service Limasam, trees such as jacarandas and tipuanas have been left out, to avoid problems caused by the mass fall of their flowers and fruit, according to Diario Sur. Work can start after the council has been notified in advance so it can monitor and supervise it.

The planned building

The planned building has a ground floor plus two storeys and a semi-basement car park. It is intended to house a new centre for people over 16 with intellectual disability or autism spectrum disorder who have serious and persistent behavioural disturbances, with 120 places, along with the 20-place day centre.

The scheme also involves redeveloping the area behind the current facilities, with a new access to the centre and a new street linking San Juan Bosco with Actriz Rosario Pino, as set out in the city's General Urban Plan (PGOU).

Sources at the complex told Diario Sur that the permit moves the expansion closer to reality. They said Urbanismo could issue the building licence in parallel with the ground preparation work.

What to watch

The building licence remains the outstanding step. The urbanisation approval is expected at Thursday's Urbanismo board meeting, and the licence could follow alongside the groundwork, according to the complex's own sources.