Pollença reaffirms its rejection of the lithium battery plant after the meeting with the promoting company

The mayor of Pollença, along with representatives from various local groups, has expressed his strong opposition to the lithium battery plant project that the company Atlántica wants to establish in the municipality. The meeting, held this Wednesday, included representatives from the company behind the project, members of the affected neighborhoods' platform, the fishermen's guild, the hotel association, councilors, and representatives from several municipal groups. According to the mayor, during the meeting, "the company presented the technical specifications of the project, while the other participants expressed their criticisms, their position, and the contradictions they see in the proposal." In the mayor's own words, "the project has been met with clear rejection." The City Council and the citizens' platform have made it clear that they will maintain a united front and will submit the relevant objections, which can be registered until November 12th. The mayor added that "local groups are concerned and believe this project does not meet the needs of Pollença, and they also regret that the regional government has not provided sufficient information about the initiative." For this reason, he asserts that "the City Council's position is completely opposed to the plant being installed in this area of the municipality." The project, which envisions the installation of a lithium-ion battery energy storage plant on rural land, has sparked growing opposition among residents and local organizations, who warn of the potential environmental and landscape impact on a particularly sensitive area. Furthermore, in recent weeks, the Territorial Planning Service of the Consell de Mallorca (Island Council of Mallorca) issued an unfavorable report regarding a very similar plant planned for Inca, considering that the proposal exceeds the maximum percentage of the plot that can be occupied by buildings and other structures. The report indicates that the initiative far exceeds the limits on occupied surface area established in the Rural Land Law and the Territorial Plan of Mallorca, which could set a precedent in the evaluation of the Pollença project. This new element reinforces the arguments of the groups opposed to the installation, who denounce the lack of planning and the poor territorial coherence of this type of energy project. With the period for submitting objections open, the future of the plant remains uncertain, but the town council has already made it clear that the priority is to preserve the territory and ensure that any energy initiative responds to the real needs of the municipality. Criticisms from the opposition to the Town Council

The main opposition group in the municipal council, Tots per Pollença - El Pi, harshly criticized the governing coalition on Wednesday, claiming that "the council knew for a year" that the lithium battery project was being processed. The group asserted that "the lack of transparency of the PSOE-MES per Pollença governing coalition is evident," as "it is difficult to believe that the governing coalition was completely unaware of the project that the company Atlántica Sustainable Infrastructure wanted to develop in our municipality: a future lithium battery storage plant" within the Pollença municipal boundaries. The group bases its criticism on the fact that the promoting company, Aratel Renewable Energies SL "He filed a request with the town hall for a certificate of urban planning compatibility for a battery plant in polygon 3, plot 184," and therefore, according to the coalition led by Tomeu Cifre, "the Town Hall has known about it for a year."

In response to these statements, the Pollença Town Hall has explained in a press release that, pRegarding the other entry, "it is not a request for a project report, nor is it even the same company. It is a request for an urban planning certificate asking about the viability of a project with similar characteristics."

According to the municipal government team, "l"The Urban Planning Department had no record or explanation from Atlantida until the end of September. In fact, the company itself acknowledged this, explaining that the official channel was to first submit the project to the Government, and that it had not held a meeting with the City Council about the project," the council stated.

In this regard, the government team reiterated that "the Ministry of Industry of the Government of the Balearic Islands had not informed or made any statement to the City Council either; it was the Environment Commission that first sent a request for a report on September 20," they stated in the same press release.