More than a dozen associations and civic movements, NGOs, and residents' associations in the municipality of Cascais have joined forces and are appealing to the 2025 local government candidacies, to sovereign bodies and to other institutions, for the urgent and effective defense of the historical, cultural and natural heritage of Cascais.
In this II Meeting on Environment and Quality of Life in Cascais, on 16.02.2025, the collectives met to discuss ideas and proposals and to express them in a MANIFESTO.
The meeting was attended by the Association for the Defence of the Village of Juso, the Association of Residents of Birre, Pampilheira and Torre, the Association of Residents and Friends of Cabeço de Mouro, the Association of Owners of the Monte Trigo Neighbourhood, the Respirar Cascais Association, the Forum for Carcavelos, the Areia Guincho Group, the Group Against the Expansion of the Tires Aerodrome, the Cascais Ecological Group NGO, the SOS Quinta dos Ingleses Environmental Association, the Friends of Parque das Gerações Association, and also, as an observer, the NGO Quercus.
THE MANIFESTO urges the municipality of Cascais to effectively invest in
sustainability of the municipality, in innovative solutions in the most compact urban areas. Urban parks and the effective protection of natural reserves are key tools, making high-density urban areas healthier and more comfortable for their inhabitants and safer and more resilient to climate change.
It is urgent to halt the deterioration of towns and cities caused by excessive urban construction, particularly in the area of tourist condominiums and luxury housing (serviced apartments) which, by increasing traffic and noise and air pollution caused by the weak and inefficient public transport network and poorly planned road infrastructure, have a negative impact on the population.
Although the new Land Law is not yet in force, in recent years, in the Municipality of Cascais, there has been persistent occupation, with buildings, of rustic land and green and protected areas, as well as the continuous worsening of erosion of the coastal edge.
Therefore, the II MEETING PROPOSES, namely: (i) the non-application (revocation) of the Land Law; (ii) the immediate suspension of the urbanization of Quinta dos Ingleses and its total conversion into an urban natural park; (iii) the immediate suspension of other Urban Plans that waterproof the coastline; (iv) the reversal of the classification as urban land of the rustic land in Areia, Birre and Aldeia de Juso; (v) the extinction and reconversion of the Tires Aerodrome; (vi) the reconversion of the Estoril Racetrack; (vii) the reversal of the declassification of the Municipality's Built Heritage; (viii) the reassessment of projects to be built in natural spaces; and (ix) the legalization of neighborhoods of illegal origin.
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The Organizing Committee
II Meeting on Environment and Quality of Life in Cascais
