Plans for Almuñécar’s law courts to move from their present location to a temporary on have run into problems over the layout.
Almuñéqueros will know the building as the Kairos, which was where the Notario used to be; i.e., in San Sebastian next to the N-340 flyover.
As pointed out, this is a stop-gap arrangement which will have to serve until a purpose-built construction comes into being on a plot yet to be determined. The Town Hall had allocated a sizeable plot on the P-4 next to the river in 2004 but has since withdrawn this offer made to the Junta de Andalucía.
At present the Junta has taken a lease until 2023 for 815,234 euros. A furher 323,505 euros will be spent on turning the existing layout into the needed for the lawcourts to function efficiently.
Anyway, complaints from the judicial-employees junio SPJ-USO, question the proposed layout because they consider it both unsuitable and having failed to address problems suffered in the present location either side of Rio Seco on Avenida Costa del Sol.
According to union delegate, Antonio García, for the SPJ- USO, there is a lack of planned space for a night court; i.e., a judge on duty outside normal hours; his office where he can take statements from those brought before him. Furthermore, the holding cell/room is at the entrance to the court rooms, exposed to the curiosity of other building users.
The union also wants to cafeteria completely sealed off from the law courts – at present there is a door leading from the former to to what will be the latter. This, there consider is necessary for security reasons.
Finally, the union considers that the waiting room and visiting room should be near the entrance so that visitors do not need to go past the court rooms or find themselves face-to-face with those somebody on the other side of a court case.
The list goes on and becomes more complex but in the essence the plans that the Junta has for the layout does not impress the people who actually have to work in that space.
The Junta delegates maintain that they have taken into consideration the points put over by the judicial staff. They will, for example, close off the cafeteria and will guarantee the existence of multi-use rooms where recordings and declarations can be made or taken from possible victims of gender violence. However, they say that it will not be possible to place the waiting room at the entrance to the judicial complex.
The adjusted layout plan will be submitted to the Town Hall shortly so that the Junta can obtain a building licence to carry out the necessary work.
(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)