Eight million to improve the poorest neighborhoods around the new Trueta
The first meeting between the Catalan government and the Girona City Council has been fruitful.
A step forward towards the construction of New Health Campus in Girona and Salt which is expected to transform the entire western urban area of the city. The Catalan government has agreed to an investment of almost 8 million euros to address urban and mobility improvements in the areas surrounding this project, which includes the Josep Trueta Hospital and a research and training complex, located around working-class neighborhoods such as Santa Eugenia, Can Gibert del Pla, and Mas Xirgu. The agreement was announced this Friday after the first bilateral commission meeting between the Catalan government and the Girona City Council.
The issue of preparing the plots of land adjacent to the new campus has been the main obstacle to moving the project forward for all these months. According to the initial urban planning, in order to build on the plots designated for the new hospital, it was necessary to carry out a land swap with private owners, which involved the construction of blocks of flats on the Parc Jordi VilamitjanaThis had generated a great deal of opposition among the residents of Can Gibert. But last week the The Catalan government and the City Council agreed to study the relocation of the 347 planned apartments. about the park in a new area. A political agreement that, after the investments announced in bilateral commission, was reaffirmed.
"Being able to preserve Parc Vilamitjana and make the urban planning modification viable to finance the development of the apartments in a new area of the city is a result of this agreement," the Minister of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau, emphasized at a press conference. Addressing skeptical opinions that fear reconsidering the park's status would affect the timeline, Dalmau added: "The department's technical services consider it viable, and the Government's commitment to the schedule remains unchanged." The Minister even went so far as to assert that the "new Trueta Hospital will be operational before the new Clínic Hospital," thus dismissing speculation about a possible change in government ownership should the rezoning of Parc Vilamitjana become stalled.
For his part, the mayor of Girona, Lluc Salellas, speaking about the bilateral meeting, emphasized that "the most important thing is that the people of Girona will be able to see in the months and years to come that this policy bears fruit in improving people's lives." He added: "We are ensuring that the campus doesn't arrive alone, but rather accompanied by the necessary investments to improve the area and offer quality public services." The planned investments in these neighborhoods include, for example, a bridge over the Masrocs stream connecting the Mas Xirgu area with the future campus, improvements to the paving of Plaça Roja with a play area and new street furniture, and a new green corridor connecting the municipalities of Girona, Salt, and Vilablareix by footpath.
Aside from the Trueta stadium, the bilateral agreements also include improvements to mobility in other parts of the city, such as increased frequencies for intercity buses and a medium-term study for the Montilivi - Sarrià de Ter - Banyoles tram line. Regarding housing, new plots of land will be added to the public reserve, including the fourteen already available plus two new ones, and a shared technical office will be created to develop a comprehensive plan for the Font de la Pólvora neighborhood.
Furthermore, the meeting also coincided with the announcement of the municipalities that will receive aid from the Neighborhood Plan for all of CataloniaAmong them is the Girona neighborhood of Pont Major. Summarizing all the day's news, Salellas concluded: "Today is a day marked in history, because it has been announced that Girona will have a total of more than 20 million euros to invest in improvements in the east, west, south, and north of the city."
