Montevideo Suspends Proceedings on Bañados de Carrasco and Will Open a Partial Plan

The Montevideo city government decided to suspend consideration before the Departmental Board of the declaration of departmental interest linked to an intervention in the Bañados de Carrasco, according to information reported by Caras y Caretas Uruguay after a meeting of the Montevideo Departmental Committee of the Frente Amplio.

Mario Bergara, in his dual role as mayor and spokesperson for the political resolution reached, explained that the decision is based on two recent developments: the announcement by the Ministry of Environment to include the Bañado de Carrasco in the environmental protection decree and the regulation of the decree by the Ministry of Housing and Territorial Planning on territorial planning tools and instruments.

According to the outlet, Bergara said that the city government must incorporate those two decrees and review, on that basis, what it had sent to the Board in December 2025. For that reason, the municipality will ask that consideration of the initiative be put on hold while it processes the consequences of those new national government provisions.

In parallel, a Partial Plan for the entire area will move forward, a territorial planning tool that, according to Bergara, will allow for a more in-depth analysis of land uses and will cover not only the 228 hectares contemplated by the urban project in question, but also the area adjacent to the wetland within Montevideo’s territory.

Caras y Caretas Uruguay noted that this Partial Plan does not require prior authorization from the Departmental Board for implementation and that the city government estimates it will take approximately one year to prepare. Its outcome, however, will then have to go before the Board.

According to Bergara, the process will seek to open a discussion with broader participation and take into account environmental, urban, economic and social dimensions. In that framework, he also stressed that the resolution was the result of a political agreement among the sectors and grassroots organizations of the Frente Amplio in Montevideo.

The outlet also specified that what was under consideration in the Board was not the urban project itself, of which only general guidelines are known, but rather a declaration of departmental interest that would authorize studies and the eventual formulation of a project by the promoting company, with environmental and economic requirements, together with the application of a Complementary Comprehensive Action Plan. That procedure is now on hold.

Sources

• Caras y Caretas Uruguay

About this note. Written by El Notero with assistance from artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.