The Sintra Administrative and Fiscal Court accepted a request on October 15 for an injunction filed by residents of the Cooperativa de Habitação Económica de Oeiras (CHEO) neighborhood against the municipality, with the Vistabella urbanization company named as an interested party.
The injunction aimed to stop the diversion of a high-voltage line over the cooperative neighborhood. The magistrate warned that, following the notification, the municipality could not “initiate or continue the execution” of the administrative act unless justified by public interest.
A banner reading “Remove the poles, not the trees” was spotted on a tree-covered plot at the intersection of Manuel Mendes and Alice Ogando streets, near Oeiras Parque. A box and a lighting pole displayed messages such as “High voltage here? No!!!”
Local resident Tiago Jorge explained that high-voltage cables had always traversed the area. However, following meetings between the municipality and developers of new housing plots, it was decided to “move the poles” and place one “in the middle of the neighborhood,” near his doorstep, instead of burying the line.
In a petition submitted in June, residents pointed out significant concerns about the new line, particularly the precautionary principle enshrined in the Treaty of the European Union when “there are potential risks to public health or the environment,” or the “right to quality of life and health protection” outlined in the Portuguese Constitution.
They highlighted that placing high-voltage poles in residential areas could pose “health risks associated with electromagnetic fields,” “negatively impact property values,” “cause irreversible aesthetic and environmental damage,” and induce “a sense of insecurity and discomfort for residents.”
The residents sought the suspension of the work and an “Environmental Impact Study or independent technical opinion,” arguing that the new pole “in the center of the consolidated housing cooperative” was solely for the purpose of “diverting the line’s path” to benefit the luxury urbanization currently under construction.
Municipal Deputy Mónica Albuquerque, from Evoluir Oeiras (BE/Livre/Volt), stated that an Environment committee meeting was scheduled to analyze the petition only after much insistence. At the beginning of October, the vice president mentioned that “E-Redes and the council had reached an agreement to schedule the line’s burial within the next three years.”
The development request dates back to 2007, covering 29,922 m2, and was approved in 2019. The developer later requested the diversion of the suspended high-voltage line so it would not pass over the development, particularly where a senior residence is planned, with municipal services favoring burying the line in 2021.
The municipality authorized the “temporary diversion of the aerial high-voltage network [HV]” on line 6112 — Trajouce-Figueirinha –, stating that this aerial network would be removed once the entire HV 6111 and 6112 aerial lines at 60 kV were buried, as referenced in a 2022 report. Subsequent information reiterated the burial of these lines.
Despite residents’ opposition, a pole was installed on October 20, and work continued over the weekend after a notification was issued on October 21 to both the municipality and the developer. As Tiago Jorge mentioned, a report from the PSP and a complaint for disregarding the suspension of the work were submitted to the court.
The mayor’s office, led by Isaltino Morais, stated that it was notified on October 21 and “immediately” notified “the developer of the need to suspend the work,” as “determined by the court.”
The diversion of the line was “determined by E-Redes” within the scope of infrastructure electrification projects for the development. After this approval, municipal services “suggested” the possibility of burying the network within the urban development’s northbound crossing.
However, E-Redes clarified that this was “a temporary aerial route, and the planned definitive route will be entirely different from the current one, concluding that the effort for such an action regarding a route that will eventually be canceled was not justified.”
The municipality noted that assessing “potential risks to population safety due to exposure to magnetic, electric, and electromagnetic fields and potential interference with emergency communication systems” near the Oeiras Volunteer Firefighters’ station is not within its competency, as pointed out by residents.
Attempts to contact E-Redes and Major Development, the Vistabella urbanization promoter, did not yield responses.
