Law 7/2021 on the Promotion of Territorial Sustainability of Andalucía has been published

The approval of this regulation by the Andalusian Parliament aims to achieve, among others, the following objectives in the scope of this Autonomous Community:

• To grant the principle of sustainability a central role in the urban and territorial planning of this Autonomous Community, updating this planning from a social, environmental and economic perspective, in which measures against climate change will take on special importance.
• To set up simple, up-to-date, systematised and coherent urban and territorial planning regulations that are consistent with sectoral regulations, unifying both regulatory regimes in a single text in order to achieve a system of regulation of these matters that will simplify and speed up procedures for the approval of planning instruments and the implementation of economic activities.
• In line with the above, the PTS also seeks to simplify land and urban planning instruments, as well as the incorporation of new ones with greater practical utility, and all of this without detriment to citizen participation, public information or the intervention of the corresponding administrative entities.
• Finally, another important objective pursued by this provision is the reconfiguration of the framework for the distribution of competences in urban and regional planning matters between the Autonomous Community and the municipalities in order to define the urban planning competences attributed to the latter clearly.

The most relevant measures that have been introduced by the PTS in order to achieve these objectives are detailed below:

Clarification of the framework for the distribution of competences in urban and territorial matters.

The PTS recognises that the current framework of distribution of competences is not ideal and aims to fully recognise local competences in urban planning matters, within the limits of the supra-local interests that fall within the competence of the Autonomous Community.

In this way, especially in Articles 2 and 3, the regulation not only attributes to local entities the exercise of urban planning powers without prejudice to those powers attributed to the Autonomous Community, but also clarifies the aims, scope and content of these powers, which include such essential powers as the planning, organisation, management and control of the occupation and use of land.

Simplification of the land classification regime.

The PTS establishes a new regulation of the land regime´s different classes, categories and situations in coherence with basic state legislation. To this end, the classification is simplified to recognise only two categories of land: urban land and rural land.

Express recognition of renewable energies as ordinary authorised uses on rural land.

For the first time, the PTS expressly recognises as an ordinary use of rural land the use linked to the installation of renewable energies, as well as those related to the use of water or projects for the compensation and self-compensation of emissions.

In this way, this type of use is exempted from the obligation to obtain, prior to the corresponding municipal licence, an exceptional ad hoc authorisation for the implementation on this type of land, which does apply to the uses classified as extraordinary.

In relation to the above, the PST also provides the possibility of reserving land on rural land to construct electricity generation infrastructure using renewable energies or collectively managed storage.

Other significant measures.

In the field of urban planning, a simplification of the existing planning instruments is adopted, adapting them to the size of the municipalities, leading to the suppression of the figure of the General Urban Planning Plan, which is replaced by two new figures, the General Municipal Planning Plan (GMPP), which will establish the general planning model for the municipality, and the Urban Planning Plan (UPP), intended for detailed planning. In addition, in order to facilitate the approval of urban planning instruments in certain territories, the Basic Municipal Planning Plan is introduced for municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants.

The PTS also simplifies urban planning procedures, thus continuing along the path started by its regulatory predecessors. In this sense, the PTS extends the list of actions for which it will not be necessary to obtain a licence and which will therefore only be subject to obtaining a declaration of responsibility or prior notification.

The recently approved PTS, according to its transitional rules, will not affect procedures relating to urban planning instruments, as well as instruments for the management and execution of planning, which were initiated prior to the entry into force of this law, which may continue to be processed in accordance with the rules previously in effect.

Finally, within six months, this regulation opens the door to the approval of several regulations that will develop, among other issues, the regulation of land and urban planning instruments, enforcement activity, building activity, and land and urban planning discipline.

Should you wish to know more information about the new regulations contained in this law and their possible repercussions, please do not hesitate to contact one of our experts listed below or your usual contact at Osborne Clarke.