Environment and Quality of Life

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1. Everyone has the right to live in an environment that is fit for humans, healthy and ecologically balanced, and has the right to defend it.

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2. To ensure the right to environment, in the framework of sustainable development, it is up to the State, by their own mechanisms and with the engagement and participation of citizens:​
 

a) To prevent and control the pollution and its effects, as well as negative forms of erosion;
 

b) To plan and promote land management, aiming to find a good location for activities, a balanced socioeconomic development and the valorisation of the landscape;
 

c) To create and develop natural reserves and natural and recreational parks, as well as classify and protect landscapes and sites, in order to ensure the conservation of nature and the preservation of cultural values of historical or artistic interest;
 

d) To promote a rational use of natural resources, to safeguard their capacity for renewal and to promote ecological stability respecting the principle of solidarity between generations;
 

e) In collaboration with local authorities, to promote the environmental quality of towns and urban life, particularly in terms of architecture and protection of historical areas;​
 

f) To promote the integration of environmental objectives into various sectoral policies;​
 

g) To promote environmental education and the respect for environmental values;

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h) To ensure that fiscal policy is compatible with environmental protection and quality of life.

First of all, environmental issues are unavoidable nowadays. Although the centennial trees from the Quinta may be considered negligible at a global scale, their existence is vital at a local level: these trees are helping mitigate the negative effects of climate change by regulating the temperatures in the area, preserving a local microclimate and absorbing CO2 produced by the increasing number of vehicles. If those trees are cut, all the CO2 they have been capturing during their life would be released into the atmosphere. They are undoubtedly Cascais’ most valuable contributors in the fight against the climatic crisis, as this fight increasingly depends on local actions to be successful.
 

Besides, if the mega-development plan was to go ahead, this would imply a change in the soil sealing, resulting in a reduction of its capacity to retain sands and moisture. It would also result in changes of the wind patterns, which would in turn accelerate the erosion of the coast and threaten the existence of Carcavelos Beach (the longest beach in the Municipality of Cascais and the largest remaining beach between Lisbon and Cascais), already under threat from climate changes (increase in sea storms and sea level).

Last but definitely not least, we also have to question what sense it makes to build so close to the coast when there are already buildings and people having to be reallocated in other regions of the Portuguese coast? And who would have to bear the costs of such mistakes?

The Quinta dos Ingleses, name by which the Quinta Nova de Santo António is popularly known, has existed since the 16th century. It began as an agricultural land, where the famous Carcavelos wine was produced, then became a recreational area owned by the Morgados of Alagoa, later still was part of the third defensive line of Northern Lisbon built during the Napoleonic Wars, as well as the departing point for the submarine telegraph cables that connected England, India, Morocco and later the Azores and Brazil. It started being called Quinta dos Ingleses when English staff from the submarine telegraph cable companies arrived to work there. They introduced throughout our country sports like football, golf and rugby, among other sports. It was at the beginning of the 20th century that its main house was adapted to become the international Saint Julian’s School. The Bronze Age findings in the Quinta are also of extreme historical relevance.
 

Today, in the old farm, we can still find a centennial pine forest that is home to hundreds of different animal and vegetal species and a shelter to all this biodiversity. The Quinta is also a place where many visitors, both local and from other areas, come to practice sports or simply find some peace among its trees.
 

More information:

TheEasternTelegraphCableStation.pdf 

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Those in favour of preserving the Quinta have many ideas for the future of that space. They share, however, a common point: the present project approved by the City Council of Cascais does not meet the minimum requirements essential to face and mitigate the effects of the climate crisis. The project could and should be designed with a vision for a more sustainable future and have in mind the well-being of the population of Carcavelos, dignifying the Quinta’s historical legacy and protecting its biodiversity, and play an important role in keeping the beach’s ecosystem alive. In reality, this is recognized by the Portuguese Parliament, who by a majority approved the proposal to classify this area as Protected Landscape.

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We definitely do not want the space to be kept as it is: abandoned, neglected and with limited conditions to be enjoyed. We have idealised solutions that include a sustainable urban/social/economic framework, thus providing people with benefits that are not measured by GDP but by GNH (Gross National Happiness, UN’s proposed new indicator to measure the development of nations).

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Consult Actions for the Future page

At the beginning of the 20th century the Saint Julian’s Association sold part of the land they owned. Today the property is shared between Saint Julian’s and the construction company Alves Ribeiro. The attempts to build in this space have been going on for more than 60 years: the first opposition to the destruction of the Quinta dos Ingleses came from Arantes e Oliveira, who was Minister of Public Works in Salazar’s government. Since then, a series of projects have been discussed and subsequently put away because the necessary approvals were never issued. In 2014, with Carlos Carreiras as mayor of Cascais, the PPERUCS (Plano de Pormenor do Espaço de Reestruturação Urbanística de Carcavelos Sul = Layout Plan for the Urban Restructuring Space of South Carcavelos) was approved, by one single vote and amid intense contestation. The process of approval was contested because Zilda Silva, who was then president of the parish council (Junta de Freguesia) of Carcavelos, voted in favour of the plan, and did that against the will of the parish council, who had voted against PPERUCS. Her vote was enough to turn the result around.
 

The PPERUCS implies the construction of 850 apartments, in buildings 7 to 9 stories high, 3 hotels and commercial areas which will reduce the 540.000 m2 of green area to a strip with less than 100 000m2. Of those, about 20 000m2 are located on the other side of a road going across the Quinta and 80 000m2 include the stream bed as well as leisure and sports equipment such as playgrounds, pathways and parking. In reality, the green area will be reduced to a mere small garden surrounded by a wall of tall buildings the size of 12 Praças do Comércio in Lisbon.

Owning land is not sufficient reason and it does not give automatic permission to build. Any construction requires prior authorization issued by the City Council of Cascais (CMC). It is this authorisation (license) that allows the construction. This relates, in particular, to the need for land planning, which is a competence of the State (Government, local authorities, etc.) – hence there are areas where no construction is allowed. It should be noted that if the CMC applied the restrictions imposed by the Development Plan of the Coastal line from Alcobaça to Cabo Espichel (Plano de Ordenamento da Orla Costeira de Alcobaça ao Cabo Espichel - POC-ACE), it would not be possible for Alves Ribeiro and St. Julian's to build at all in Quinta dos Ingleses, as the aforementioned plan prohibits construction within a radius of 500 meters from the sea line and imposes very severe restrictions up to 1000 meters.

Regarding Quinta dos Ingleses, the City Council of Cascais inverted what the legislation stipulates as far as the Regional Planning norms are concerned. In fact, the regional planning has several categories of plans which follow an hierarchy: the National Development Plan (Plano de Ordenamento Nacional), the Regional Plans, the Municipal Master Plans (Planos Diretores Municipais), the Layout Plans (Planos de Pormenor) and the execution plans. The plans decided at an inferior level have to adapt and cannot contradict the higher level plans. But in the case of Quinta dos Ingleses this hierarchy is not being complied with. This is unacceptable: the Layout Plan (PPERUCS) does not respect the hierarchically superior development plans.

Development is not synonymous with concrete. In the case of Quinta dos Ingleses, construction is equivalent to destruction. Besides, what's the point of generating short term income if later on more money will have to be used to solve problems such as an increase in air pollution, coastal erosion due to sand loss, etc? By preserving the green area of Quinta dos Ingleses, the City Council may waive a short term income in the form of taxes, but this will be largely compensated in the long term with benefits of increased welfare and quality of life, as well as increased value due to the attractiveness of the beach and surrounding landscape. (See question 4)

Expropriations do not harm land owners: the value in a compulsory purchase order or expropriation is determined by evaluating all the pros and cons and details of the process, namely the location, the kind of construction permitted in the land, potential profits derived from the construction, etc. The value thus calculated is the fair value. If there is disagreement between the entity promoting the compulsory purchase (in this case the City Council) and the landowner the value will be determined by the court. That is what happened with the adjacent land where the Nova SBE University is located (the land was considered RAN = Agricultural National Reserve): the City Council of Cascais expropriated it and, because there was no agreement regarding the value, the landowners brought the case to a court that decided on a fair value. In summary, there is no reason why the CMC does not follow the same procedure. By not doing so, the CMC is clearly showing that it is not concerned with the protection of the site and its preservation as a green area to be used by all (now and in the future), but is rather more concerned in defending the speculative interests of Alves Ribeiro and Saint Julian’s Association.

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Anyway, there are alternatives to the payment of compensation in an expropriation, such as the swap of with other pieces of land where the landowners can build.

The value that CMC defends as being the amount needed to pay the owners for giving up the terrain or for its expropriation has never in fact been established because, in the event of a disagreement, it is the courts that have the power to determine the amount and no court has ever done that.

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It should be emphasised that the President of the CMC has, without justification, indicated different values over the course of time. This reinforces the loss of credibility in his statements. In addition to this, when summoned through the court to present documents determining a compensation value of one hundred million euros or more, the CMC declared that it did not possess any such documents.

On May 5th 2021 the debate about the allotment project of Quinta dos Ingleses, which took place in the Environment Commission of the Portuguese Parliament, came to an end. In the debate, convened by two parties represented in the Parliament - PAN and PCP - participated SOS Quinta dos Ingleses and Fórum por Carcavelos. During the debate, CMC claimed that the entire allotment process was done legally and that if the Government now considered that that area should be classified as protected, then it should be the Government to pay the compensation to the owners.
 

However, the former Government (through the Minister of the Environment João Pedro Matos Fernades in response to Inês Sousa Real, of the PAN, in the Portuguese Parliament) made it clear that this matter should be dealt with at the local level and that the CMC is the one who has the possibility/tools to stop this process.

The Commission for Coordination and Regional Development of Lisbon and Tagus Valley (Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo) mentioned that the PPERUCS was prepared based on the situation existing in 2011 (that is, 13 years ago) and confirmed that it violates current legal standards. They also stressed that it is up to the CMC to revoke the Plan, for they are the ones who have the competence to do so.

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It should also be noted that the head of the Institute for Conservation of Nature and Forests (Instituto de Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas ) considered that although the ICNF believes that the conditions for the area to be classified as a protected landscape of national level are not met, nothing prevents the creation of a protected landscape at the local level.

There were several possibilities:
 

a) The City Council of Cascais (CMC), through the Municipal Assembly, suspends or revokes the PPERUCS and, consequently, prevents the progress of the works;
 

(b) The area is classified as protected landscape of local scope, which will prevent the issuing of building permits and construction;
 

(c) The land is expropriated;
 

(d) CMC begins negotiations with Alves Ribeiro and St. Julian's, which can include land swap in order to use a piece of land where there is construction capacity and where the negative impact for the environment or for the population is not the same as is the case of Quinta dos Ingleses;
 

(e) Combine several of these measures.

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There were, therefore, several possible scenarios that would allow saving the Quinta for the benefit of present and future generations, ensuring the preservation of the environment and the beach of Carcavelos.

On October 31st 2023, the environmental association SOS Quinta dos Ingleses filed a lawsuit against CMC to challenge the CMC's decision of July 18th 2023, which gave the green light for the mega-development to go ahead on 52 hectares of green space next to Carcavelos beach. This lawsuit points to a series of flaws in the administrative procedure and flagrant violations of the law, contravening the fundamental rights to life and the environment.

In May 2024, the developer Alves Ribeiro fenced off the entire perimeter of the Quinta and the works for the construction of a car parking area and urban park of around 6 hectares have began, the first step towards the Quinta becoming a construction site for the 10 coming years - and causing the ecocide that we have been fighting against.

Faced with this scenario, SOS Quinta dos Ingleses filed an injunction on June 6th 2024. On June 11th, the judge in the case ordered the immediate suspension of the works and the summoning of CMC, Alves Ribeiro and St. Julian's School to contest. The works are therefore prohibited until the decision about the injunction is taken, which will probably not happen before the end of 2024.

Yes. The Government has mentioned the existence of funds from the "Recovery and Resilience Plan" for the rehabilitation and regeneration of green areas. The amounts in question can even be increased if the requests are made by the Municipalities in conjunction with individuals or associations. SOS Quinta dos Ingleses intends to use these funds in articulation with the local authorities, which is only possible if the municipal executive in charge is committed to reviving Quinta dos Ingleses as an essential public woodland.