Solinas: "From cities to ports, a new face for our Island"

«This law starts from a fact: we have an enormous building stock. By redeveloping it we can make a contribution to the recovery of the construction sector, improving many buildings born in the 60s and 70s without coherence with the urban and environmental context ". Woe to call it home plan: the new rules on the "redevelopment of the existing building stock" would like to go beyond simple volumetric extensions, blocked for almost a year, to aim higher by improving the face of the island. On which decades of construction have been stratified, often without paying too much attention to the "aesthetic value" of the interventions. The 15 articles that Christian Solinas promises to present to the Regional Council within the year will also serve to relaunch the tourism sector: "We all agree that Sardinia can be competitive in this field: this is why we cannot stand still while in the world we continue to improve services, ”says the governor. "We need rules that allow these structures to adapt to international standards."

Specifically, what will hoteliers be able to do?

“Many hotels on the coast were built several decades ago, when very narrow spaces were foreseen for some services that customers now find everywhere. These are the problems of the productive fabric: combining development needs with the value of the environment and the inviolable beauties of the island ».

The text will give the possibility of redeveloping also the tourist ports, with new structures dedicated to services and hospitality.

«It is an option that the Town Planning Department wanted to provide to relaunch the port facility. There are numerous realities that are candidates to be gateways to the island. This chapter will be discussed in the Council, with the Municipalities that host the structures, and I hope with the academic world ".

The law will allow building extensions again.

«Cities, suburbs and countryside need to rediscover their physiognomy and answer current questions. I am thinking of the requests of the Third Age, with the removal of architectural barriers, and energy efficiency. Inside the big centers there will be an opportunity to give a new vocation to compromised spaces. We have excellent examples: Milan relaunched the economy and resumed its role as a leading city when it carried out the urban redevelopment interventions ».

In these cases, however, the intervention of the Municipalities will be needed: collaboration between local authorities and offices is often lacking.

«The real brake was the layering of landscape, building and urban planning regulations, which generated a difficulty in implementing the technical offices. The "fear of signing", which slowed down the administrative machine. Citizens and businesses then found themselves with qualifications challenged by the courts. We need certain rules and collaboration ».

Will a "moral suasion" be enough to obtain this result?

«The norms we want to adopt must limit the difficulties of interpretation. This text will then be followed by the actual urban planning law. Once the two cornerstones have been adopted, we will proceed with the repeal of the fragments of old regulations that only create confusion ”.

In the 300 meters from the sea, extensions will be allowed only in the accommodation facilities.

«We are for the protection of this band. But there is a theme: there are already volumes built before us and sometimes very badly. It is possible to intervene to allow a better integration in the landscape and in the case of hotels give better services to make them more competitive ».

Less than a year and a half to go to the regional elections: will you also be able to approve the urban planning law?

“The legislature was cut down by the two and a half years of a pandemic. The Council must work like a drum, intensifying the sessions to define laws and measures that Sardinians have been waiting for for a long time. The Executive will activate all the impulse tools. The urban planning law is needed because the last one is from 1989. The world has changed and a new balance must be found ».

Have you initiated discussions with the state for the revision of the landscape plan?

«We hope to have a fruitful relationship with the new government. Sardinia applies landscape rules that are not similar in the rest of Italy. The implementation of the Urban Code was mediated by an agreement between the Region and the Ministry signed a few legislatures ago, which effectively prevents urban planning, which was granted in other areas ».

What are you referring to?

“Many subjects often point to Tuscany as a virtuous example, with the famous Chiantishire, where beautiful structures are built in the countryside, often converted to tourist uses, but tolerate that all this is denied in Sardinia. Here you can only build tool compartments, often without aesthetic value ».

What attitude do you expect from the Council when examining the new law and what will the timing be?

«In the final part of the year we will close the Omnibus and the Finanziaria, then there will be time for the examination in committee of the text on the redevelopment of the building heritage, without however distorting the overall philosophy. In the past, the texts have been enriched with detailed rules that have led to appeals ».

What is the mood within the majority?

"Soon there will be the States General: it will be a necessary moment in which the autonomist, civic and Sardinian center-right community will meet to define the priorities of this council. We have a year and a half to focus on health, urban planning, energy and transport ».

Speaking of transport: the Lega press for the assignment of the department, of which you now have the interim.

«The councilorship is in excellent hands (smiles), and has a management that is up to the task. We are awaiting the publication of the calls on continuity in the official European gazette. Despite the concerns, in the last summer we have exceeded 25 million admissions. It means that the connections were not lacking ».

Michele Ruffi