My email jiminysimpson@gmail.com

My email jiminysimpson@gmail.com

Friday, April 29, 2011

Basuras Cucador/Los Llanos del Peral area

I have discovered that as a result of people dumping loads of bags of rubbish at the side of the basura below La Vida on the road to Llanos Del Peral, the people responsible for the basuras, Consorcio Levante, decided that they should resite the bins in more local areas. This led to at least two being repositioned in areas not agreeable to residents. My son in law and I have replaced two of them in their original positions today. However, the only way to stop them being repositioned is to ensure that people use their own local basura and not place too much in one area.

So Please! Please! use the basura nearest your property and if the basura you wish to use is full please take it to the next and not leave it at the side of the bin.

UPDATE

Due to further representations the Basura for the lower part of Cuesta de los Pinos is now at the junction of Calle Francia and Calle Irlanda. The residents of that part of the developement are happy for it to be sited there and any further repositioning will solely be the responsibility of Consorcio Levante.

Monday Meeting, PGOU and Basuras

Firstly the meeting that was to be tonight and is now on Monday night at 8.0pm at the Renfe will feature some video footage of the village, past and present, as well as the introduction of the Partido Andalucista candidates for the elections. We made some video footage today and there was news of our Medical Centre amongst that video footage.

Secondly the basuras around the Cuesta de los Pinos area seem to have been moved by someone overnight. I have received reports of them in various locations. Consorcio Levante are aware and will be coming to have a look but if any are in a position to be moved and can be moved them please just do so. If i get time later today I will have a look at the ones nearest to me.

Lastly although the PGOU is available on the website as I indicated in the last post I have not yet had time to get a fuller understanding of it all. As soon as I can I will try and help those of you who have emailled questions which, until I get that training, I am unable to fully answer. Should you have concerns or issues which you think are more urgent, then I can attend to, then please speak with your solicitor. I will try and get a fuller understanding asap. (that was the purpose we intended for the meeting which was cancelled last Wednesday)

P.G.O.U. Access & Meeting Delay & Bins

As a start the P.G.O.U. is accessible through the Town Hall website. Due to the structure of the site I am finding it difficulty to identify a direct link for me to put on here to the actual page. However, to save time for those wanting to check it out asap if you to www.zurgena.es and then down the left hand side there is a 'tablon de anuncios' click on that icon then on the next page 'normas' followed by 2011 and then PGOU.

Sorry it is little complicated and I am trying to find a way for people to physically check the paper plan but this is proving difficult due to the size and complexity of the document, will keep working on it.

The presentation of the Partido Andalucista candidates for the 2011 elections will now take place on Monday evening at 8.0pm in the Renfe building (not this evening as originally stated). This is due to a number of factors affecting the content of the presentation. I hope a few can attend. It will be to both the Spanish and English communities and will introduce the public to the people who are potential councillors.

The basuras for Cuesta de los Pinos appear to have disappeared. I have made an enquiry as to what has happened and will post when known

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

P.G.O.U.

I have been given clearance to reveal that the reason the PGOU meeting had to be cancelled was that an opposition politician (forbidden to reveal who) had taken out a denuncia against the Mayor in the mistaken belief that it was an election meeting (which it obviously was not). Why any politician would think that such an action would endear their party to them is a complete mystery to me as it is everyones interest in Zurgena to progress this. So all that it has done is deny residents the opportunity to get an overview of the plan and an explanation from the architect.

The consultation period for the PGOU will be starting either today or tomorrow, although any request to examine it yet may cause difficulties, as the documents have not yet been digitised and uploaded to the Town Hall website. As soon as it is I will post on here.

Additionally I need to get a more in-depth explanation to help people understand what it all means and I have asked whether the Architect can meet with me as part of the process to communicate this information.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Urgent Cancelled Meeting

It is with great regret and disappointment that I have to inform everyone that the PGOU presentation meeting for tomorrow evening has had to be cancelled at the last moment.
This is nothing to do with Partido Andalucista and I hope to be able to more fully explain, without fear of arrest or other problems, later this week. I can confirm that our solicitors are working urgently on the situation and I will post as soon as I can.
Please bear with us.
If you know of anyone who was intending to attend the meeting and who does not have internet access please inform them. I will of course be outside the hall to inform anyone who does turn up.

Correct Postal Codes

Below is a copy of an email I received from the Correos manager for the area with the correct postal codes. Please note the first paragraph.

First, the postal codes 04650, 04661 and 04662 arrive to Huercal Overa in the same box and this box is for the Zurgena's Postwoman. For this reason, no problem.

04650 - Almajalejo, Fuente del Pino, Los Menchones, LLanos del Peral y Zurgena

04661 - Limaria, Alfoquia, Carasoles, Cucador

04662 - Overa(Los Navarros, El Pilar, Santa Barbara), La Concepción and Palacés

Saludos


José Antonio Arán Martínez
Jefe de Equipo Servicios Periféricos "Albox"

Monday, April 25, 2011

Airport Info

I am indebted to Steve Pate for the following information which, if all true, can only be good formthe region.

"British journalist were being shown around Corvera Airport last week by representatives of Jet 2. There are lots of rumours that Ryanair are going to move their Alicante hub there next spring and this certainly would be good for us down here but it is only gossip.
I also heard from a customer that has a relative working in San Javier airport and he says Ryanair are going for that airport as their Hub from next year. He says Ryanair are having lots of meetings with the airport officials."
I have also found the new airport website which is currently in Spanish and shows the location of the airport. I have also shown the link to the English version of the website which is still under construction.

http://www.airm.es/
http://www.airm.es/es.html


The position of the new airport is very close to the new Paramount theme park which has now been awarded a license to begin construction. Paramount officials visited Murcia last week to discuss the commencement of the site.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Choc, Churros and Dates

Firstly for those of you at a certain age (known in Spain as the 3rd Age) eg pensioners there is free chocolate and churros in the Plaza De Olmo (main square in Zurgena) from 10.0am the Saturday.

Secondly the Presentation of the PGOU (Plan General) to the public at 7.0pm at the Renfe on Wednesday the 27th April. Please understand that this is the most important developement in relation to Town Planning that has taken place in a very long time and will directly impact the situation with regard to every property in Zurgena. The entire area on the municipality has been mapped and classified and the main architect, who was instrumental in drawing this document up, together with the administrating councillors, will both present and give an overview of the Plan.

Next Friday 29th April 7.0pm in the Theatre at Zurgena the presentation of the candidates for the Partido Andalucista.

Tuesday 3rd May from 7.30pm the current Mayor, Candido Trabalon, accompanied by councillors will make an informal visit to La Vida Lounge bar on the road between Cucador and Llanos del Peral.

Wednesday 18th May at 7.0pm at the Renfe building in La Alfoquia, Partido Andalucista will present a video show of Zurgena past and present and outline their plans for the future.

Please make a note of these dates and if you have any questions about any of the dates just email me through the link at the top of the page.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Final List of Candidates for Partido Andalucista, Manifesto & Easter

Below is the final agreed list for the elections for the P.A. having been adjusted to ensure a more balance list in relation to the men/women.

1. Candido Trabalon Fernandez.
2. Salvador Ramon Sagarra Robles
3. Noelia Garcia Jimenez
4. James Rintoul Fenton Simpson (me)
5. Maria Del Mar Bonillo Cardos
6. Francisco Martinez Ramos
7. Juan Miguel Navarro Ramos
8. Michael David Foulkes (known locally as La Alfoquia postman)
9. Mirian Aguilar Martinez
10.Maria Del Mar Alfonso Bonillo.
11. Encarna Ferri Guerrero
12. Jose Parra Pardo
13. Lorenzo Cortes Alonso
14. Manuel Jesus Menchon Menchon
15. Yolanda Cortes Alonso
16. Maria bConsuelo Carrion Bernabe
17. Josefa Carrillo Garcia
18. Pedro Torrecillas Ramos
19. Juan Dominguez Bellido
20. Salvador Bonillo Galera
21. Antonia Garcia Carrique

We are working on the Manifesto for Partido Andalucista and will start narrowing down the likely points for inclusion over the next few days. The results of the survey will be fully considered when doing this work.

There will be the usual SemananSanta parades however, I am having great difficulty in getting the details, even the Polizia Local who have to Police it, do not yet know the times. It is down to the priest and I have been unable to catch him. The usual routine is for parades on Thursday afternoon about 5.0pm Friday morning 10am which I think is the big one, Friday evening 5 or 6.0pm midnight mass Friday then Sunday morning about 10.0am. Sorry I cannot be more precise but unfortunately the church is responsible and they have not let the T.H. know their plans yet.

PGOU and Big Fat Liar (Me)

We held an extraordinary Pleno session this morning and Im ended up spending 5 hours there.

We officially appointed Isa as the Council Secretary in the absence of Jose (in hospital). We agreed the population count for the 1st January and agreed accounts for 2009. Then we got to the main business which was the progression of the PGOU.

Candido explained that after many, many discussions with the Junta they had reached a verbal agreement on what our Plan should look like. Whilst, and I have referred to this in previous blogs, we had hoped to approve the PGOU and then publish it, Isa had discovered that we had to approve the provisional plan for publication first, take objections, and then agree the format to be submitted to the Junta. That was what we were doing this morning. During this discussion it was interesting to see that the PSOE councillor MarieJose was obviously having a go at me and accused me of lying on the blog, in that I had told people that the PGOU would be agreed today. The blog is open for people to reread and, if they do, they will find that everything I have said on here is the truth. The opposition were saying that I had told people that we were approving the PGOU today and if you reread the blog you will find that that was what I was told initially but, fortunately Isa had discovered, we could not do that, but merely agree to publish the document for public consultation and I then updated the blog with that, and that is what we have done today. Both Manolo and Candido stated that whilst there are many people who use the internet in the valley most do so through anonymity whereas my blog is obviously directly attributable to me and the Town Hall.

The PGOU will be submitted for inclusion on the official Boletin which should occur in the next two to three days. We will then try and upload it to the Town Halls website and I will put a direct link from here to it.

It is interesting to note that on this, the most important of Council meetings, for the future of Zurgena, of the two opposition parties the P.P. councillor did not even attend and of the 2 PSOE councillors only one attended, MarieJose and she, whilst agreeing that she had no objection to the Plan, could only make an untrue and disparaging remark about my blog! She did not vote to approve the Plan but abstained!

We then spent a long time after the meeting discussing how best to convey the content of the PGOU to the citizens of Zurgena. Whilst I was there he got in touch with the main architect from Almeria and he, the architect, agreed to attend a meeting where, together with the governing councillors, he would explain the PGOU. I have also agreed that, after that presentation, I will try and get some in depth lessons from the architect and hold open days to inform people of their specific situation (to try and reduce the amount of work for Andreas and the Town Hall architect). THE PRESENTATION OF THE PGOU WILL BE DONE FOR ALL RESIDENTS OF ZURGENA ON THE EVENING OF WEDNESDAY 27TH APRIL AT THE RENFE BUILDING IN LA ALFOQUIA. This will be your first opportunity to get an explanation of the Plan.

It is perhaps understandable that the other political parties are a bit upset that we have got to this point as I believe they have, in their manifestos made promises to write a PGOU!

Back to the new Partido Andalucista office above Bar Trabalon tonight for more planning. It transpires that, as the population was over 3,000, we have to rejig the candidate list to include more ladies higher up the list. We have that to discuss tonight and our slogan and I don't know what else. Its just like having a job this! Thank goodness my wife is supportive.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Meetings and Meetings

We spent a very long time last night identifying the dates for our pre election meetings and the reorganised and reinstated Fiesta for Los Llanos del Peral.

We have now agreed our dates for a) presentation of all candidates (29th April) (including the two ex pats, both in electable positions, remember that an expats name on the list is only of value if he/she is in a position likely to gain a seat), b) A pre election meeting on behalf of Partido Andalucista 18th May which will include a video show of Zurgena old and new, c) an informal meeting in a bar 3rd May and, d) the date of the Fiesta for Los Llanos del Peral 14th May. We agreed that to avoid people becoming bored too early with election meetings we would leave them all until the last 3 weeks before the election.

I will put reminders of these dates nearer the time. However as I know more people are interested in the Fiesta I can confirm that it will be held on Saturday 14th May.

If anyone does wish to make a postal vote I have been told by friends that the lady in the Post Office in Zurgena has been very helpful by providing information in english. I also have copies of the application form for voting by post if you wish to exercise your right to vote by post due to being out of Spain on the 22nd (but here at the moment or up to the 10th May) just let me know.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Last Nights Meeting & Postal Voting

As is the case at the moment, Partido Andalucista met again last night. It was the night for the youth of the villages to come along and tell us what they wanted to see during the next four years, which I thought was very democratic. About 15 to 20 young people under the age of 21 called into the office and gave support to the party and had their say on issues they thought should be included in the manifesto.

I was also able to present the findings of the survey and was pleased to see that a couple of the other candidates also identified similar issues. So we will keep working on it over the next few days.

The remainder of this post is a copy from the Entertainer online newspaper and explains the, not simplistic, process to vote by post.

You can vote with a voto por correos between May 2nd and 18th. The 'how to' follows below the fold.

I am unavoidably absent on Voting Day so I will have to be a postal voter. What do I do?
This is a complex process so please do try to be in Zurgena to vote on May 22nd in person if at all possible. If you know you cannot attend in person, you will need to vote by post.
The forms for postal voting are now available at the Post Offices (Voto por Correo - Solicitud de Certificacion). You do not need ID at this stage although it is always wise to take some! You can collect more than one at a time.
However, once completed, they will have to be returned individually, in person, to the Post Office, with ID (NIE or Passport or Certificate of Residence - whichever you ticked on your form ). You will also need some form of ID with your photo on it, like your Passport or Spanish Driving License. You may want to use your Passport as ID anyway. They will need your signature to match to the original one on the form.
The Post Office will post the form on for you in an envelope which they provide. Once the form is submitted, you will not be able to vote in person in the 2011 Local Elections.

This is only the start of the process.

You will receive by certified post (in your apartado, if you have one) the voting papers for all the parties standing in the election with the different candidates listed, an instruction sheet, the electoral envelopes, a certificate of inscription and an envelope with the address of the polling station sheet. This will be between May 2nd- 12th. Again, you will need to sign a notice of receipt and provide proof of identity at the post office. No-one else can collect the papers on your behalf - you must do this in person.
This process has to be completed no later than 10 days before Voting Day on May 22nd: in other words, before 12th May.
When you have collected the papers, you will then have to select the one voting slip of the party of your choice which must not be written on. You must put this into the voting envelope which must be sealed. This envelope, together with the certificate, must be placed in the envelope addressed to the polling station and sent by registered post (no stamps needed) before May 18th (but it would be foolish to leave it this late, given the vagaries of the Spanish postal system). Again, You will need to provide proof of identity
This all takes time (this is Spain, after all!) so it is vital you get your postal voting application form(s) right now to avoid missing the deadline.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

PGOU Pleno

Was in the Town Hall for some surgeries this morning and was given details of the next Pleno session of the Council which is to be held next Tuesday at 11.0am. The agenda shows that we will be approving the draught PGOU in order that any objections or modifications are requested before we approve it, a process which I believe will take 4 weeks. I understand that after this meeting we will be able to post the plan on the Town Hall wall for consultation by the public and take on board any objections etc. When this is doen I will obviously post on here.

Unfortunately I have again to apologise to those awaiting expediente checks as Isa has had to take on all the jobs of the official Town Hall secretary due to him being in hospital and likely to be for some time. So she is very busy dealing with other things including the preparation of paperwork for this next Pleno which I am sure you will agree is pretty important to get right.

My thanks to Mr and Mrs Sullivan who attended the surgery this morning and who are feeding back information relevant their neighbours for me.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Country Walk, Bowling Green and Candidates

Called into the Town Hall due to a couple of meetings and it is getting even more hectic, people dashing about all over the place, doors opening and closing. Discovered that Candido, Manolo , Isa and Luiz were all discussing an inform received this morning giving advice on how we should go about presenting our PGOU. Apparently we have to have a pleno, to agree to publish the outline plan. Then we await the 4 weeks publics viewing of it and take any objections etc onboard before approving it or otherwise. Which makes sense anyway. As soon as we get together for the 1st Pleno I will post on here.

Secondly I was made aware that one of the competing parties in the upcoming elections are holding meetings to present their list and so, I thought, I would ask what we were doing in that respect. Candido told me that there are such very strong restrictions, on such meetings, by law, they are not allowed to mention anything which could be construed as electioneering and so we will not be doing anything like that, until the law allows us to. We are in the process of deciding the best way to present our candidates.

Thirdly, the Town Hall, with the assistance of the Dipalme, have organised a country walk on Sunday May the 1st. Meet at the Renfe building where a breakfast will be served, depart for the walk with a Guide at 10.0am return at 2.0pm for a lunch. All this is included for 10 euros. It is hoped to be one of many future walks organised around the countryside of the Almanzora valley. I have a supply of the forms if anyone wishes to take part I could email a copy r deliver one. Copies are also available at the Town Hall in Zurgena. All that you need to do is take the form to the bank pay the 10euros and return it to the Town Hall.

Lastly the new bowling green being built in La Alfoquia is coming on and from the feedback I have had, from some people in the know, it looks like it will be an excellent facility (I am led to believe that someone in the South of Spain is looking to get the European Championships) Which would be a real feather in the cap for Zurgena area.

We are meeting daily at 5.0pm at the moment in relation to election strategy and matters. Other matters and questions still outstanding will try again later this week.

PS Does anyone know a David Gary CARTER from Llanos del Peral. I have a letter for him which was the wrong postbox.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

End of Busy Week

Thank goodness its Sunday. This has been quite a hectic week primarily due to work for the upcoming elections. I am grateful to all those of you who realised you were not on the censor list and contacted me, or ensured that they had the necessary paperwork, to enable them to exercise their right to vote.

We are not allowed to do any electioneering until a later date so I cannot yet make any statements in that regard but, with the additional numbers of people who registered this week, we can hopefully go from strength to strength so thanks to those of you who did so.

Secondly, and I am sure it is a point many will appreciate, the gym in Zurgena has reverted to its normal hours for the exercise classes. The same person (Manolo) is running them with the same cost and programme. I am pleased that Candido was able to get it resumed as soon as he did following our requests.

Should be able to get back to a bit more of normality this coming week.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Busiest Week

This week is turning out to be the busiest week so far in the pre election period. Mike and I have a lot of work to do during this week which will probably take most of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I could have done with Friday as well but I have a previous appointment.

It may also prove to be difficult to advance any of the outstanding issues due to this work however, I am advised, that the Pleno for the PGOU, will be presented to a Pleno. This will be as soon as we can get the Secretary to complete the necessary paperwork. That will obviously take precedence over the pre election work.