Tuesday, March 16, 2010

MEP Marta Andreasen and MP Chris Bryant

We would like to thank both MP Chris Bryant and MEP Marta Andreasen for kindly looking into our situation. Both have visited Spain recently. Please see the links section.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

What happened?

A Brief History of Trampolin Hills

2004
November: The reclassification of over 1 200 000 m2 of land is applied for in Campos del Rio, Murcia; a low-populated inland municipality with just over 2000 inhabitants in an area of 47,29 km2 .

2005
January: The company Trampolín Hills Golf Resort S.L. is formed.

May: An official agreement to allow for the building of 2200 homes surrounding a golf course is approved by the local authorities

June: A publicity campaign launched by the company leads to the first off-plan sales contracts in phase I of the resort, planned to be finished in 2008. During the next 2 years, most of the planned homes, between 1500 and 2000, are sold to buyers from different parts of Europe, each paying significant deposits of up to 60 000 € pr. home. A total of some 50 000 000 € is paid as deposits.

2006
July: A modification of the agreement is approved by the local authorities, against the protests of the opposition, who claim they have appealed the initial approval.

2007
September: The opposition denies the mayor his right to vote regarding the approval of the project, because of his dealings with the company as an estate agent.

2008
January: The Mayor of Campos del Rio, Miguel Navarro, publicly begs the opposition to vote in favour of the project. He insists it is of great benefit for the community and that the opposition have not given any reasons for their disapproval.

April: The opposition, led by Miguel Buendía, denounces the mayor and his party for deliberately delaying the procedures, awaiting the mayor’s right to vote, which will be renewed 2 years after his last dealings with the company.

May: A court decision by Judge José Miñarro García suggests the municipality is liable to pay the buyers sums equivalent of their deposits, as well as compensate the company, because of the delays.

June: The first complaints from buyers whose homes should have been finished reach the courts.

October: Local authorities decide in favour of the mayor’s right to vote.

November: The Trampolin company denounces the mayor and other officials because of the delays.

2009
January: The local authorities approve the project.

February: The Community of Murcia approves the project, on conditions that a series of modifications are made. The following months, the project is sent back and forth between offices to have the modifications obtained and approved.

November: A court declares the necessary bankruptcy proceedings of the Trampolin company, based on a 30 000 € debt to another company.

December: Some of the buyers are notified by mail that they need to present their contracts to be admitted as creditors, after the deadline has expired. The mayor appears in public at a gathering of buyers and media, promising the approval of the reclassification of the land the following month.

2010
February: The Association for the Affected of Trampolin Hills is formed by some of the buyers.

March: The association starts negotiations with the bankruptcy trustees as a last effort to have our contracts respected. The reclassification of the land is still not approved by the local authorities.

Summary: Spanish authorities have so far been sitting comfortably back watching buyers despair while a small handful of local politicians let their concerns for their own personal rivalries and benefits completely overshadow their concerns for the thousands of individuals seriously affected by their decisions, including the families who are still waiting for their homes as well as those who have lost their jobs. We, the buyers have deposited our life savings in Campos del Rio along with our trust in Spain as a modern EU country which takes her obligations towards the buyers seriously. We feel it is time to clarify who is responsible, what they intend to do and when.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Bankruptcy Trustees are willing to sign an agreement under certain conditions

Following the meeting held on the 4th of March, the Association for the Affected of Trampolin Hills and the Bankruptcy Trustees have agreed on signing an agreement to proceed with the construction of the development.

For this it is necessary to have the approval of creditors which represent more than half of the total credit; that is some 25.000.000 €.

The agreement would need to include the following conditions:

1.- Definite commitment on behalf of a financial entity, subject to the condition of approval of an agreement, to grant a sufficient credit to Trampolin Hills for starting the construction.

2.- Acquirement of the plots still awaiting deeds.

3.- Final approval of the reclassification of the land.

4.- Starting again the construction on behalf of Trampolin Hills, subject to the following conditions:

a.- Subscription to an Insurance Policy which guarantees the devolution of the quantities already paid and to be paid by the buyers, as established in the First Additional Resolution to the Construction and Development Act.

b.- Contracting, in charge of Trampolin Hills, of a Technical Office for construction control, without whose approval bills could not be paid or certificates of construction issued, neither by charging bank credit nor by charging quantities paid by buyers.

c.- Establish a control of disposal of funds on behalf of the Administrators of Trampolin Hills.

Because the mercantile legislation impedes the limiting of the functions of the Administrators of companies, it would be convenient to introduce in the agreement a prolongation of the intervention of the Bankruptcy Administrators, whose signatures would be needed for any act of disposal by the company.

The inconvenience of this solution is that we would have to continue dealing with the responsible members of Trampolin Hills, but the advantages would be that they would be totally controlled and that the conditions of price established in the contracts would be respected and, in the case of a new failure, the quantities paid would be covered by an Insurance Contract, with certainty of recovery independent of a new insolvency situation or of breach of contracts on behalf of Trampolin Hills.

Friday, March 5, 2010

CHRIS BRYANT – UK MINISTER OF STATE FOR EUROPE

CHRIS BRYANT – UK MINISTER OF STATE FOR EUROPE

Will be holding a Question and Answer session for people living in Spain or
moving to Spain

Chaired by Her Majesty’s Ambassador, Giles Paxman

At 5pm on Saturday 6th March 2010

At the Hotel Cabo Cervera, Torrevieja

Ctra. Torrevieja a La Mata s/n

03188 Torrevieja

Those interested in attending, since
space will be limited and for security reasons, should advise the Consulate
asap, preferably by email at alicante.consulate@fco.gov.uk or
'lloyd.milen@fco.gov.uk'. Tel.96 521 6022, fax 96 514 0528.


PLEASE; if any British Trampolin Hills buyers could possibly attend and question the Minister on our problems, that would be an enormous help. Please let us know, at bftboth@gmail.com.
Thank you!