New Bus Service

You may remember about 5 years ago I conducted a survey about what people wanted in the way of provision of local services. well one of the suggestions was for a bus to service all the outlying areas. Well we have at last made a provision for this.

Zurgena Town Hall are to trial for a few weeks a new bus service to provide transport from the outlying villages of the municipality to the markets of Zurgena (Fridays) and Huercal Overa (Mondays). This should be a great help to people.

This service will operate under a subsidy from the Town Hall to test the demand for such a service.

It was thought that some of our citizens were restricted, through lack of transport options, from getting out and about and visiting the markets. This service will provide them that option. 

It was also thought that not only people with lack of transport options but possibly those who see it as a social occasion may wish to make use of it and we hope that as many people as possible use the service and thereby ensure it remains as a regular service for all those in the outlying villages.

The service will be provided by Piki Autobuses of Zurgena and the provision of the service will be reviewed after one full month of operation. It will be a case of use it or lose it.

The attached document shows the pick up/drop off locations and the tariffs for the service. The service will commence on Friday 6th November for Zurgena market and Monday 9th November for Huercal Overa market.

If the service proves popular or provides a service which many of our citizens use we will look to extend the service to other days of the weeks and possibly other locations.

Disgusting Rubbish

On a recent walk I took this picture of a large amount of rubbish dumped in the rambla which runs parallel to the east of the road between La Vida and Los Llanos del Peral. If you recognise any of this rubbish or have any idea who may have dumped it please let us know.

From examination of the rubbish its looks as if it probably belonged to a British person who had a dog or dogs and a child or children.

Million Steps & Frantic Action

In order for us to address the issues raised by the regional authorities regarding our PGOU we are frantically trying to get a lot of work done so that it can be resubmitted before the end of this month. In order to do that we have to complete certain processes and official steps. So it looks like we will be  having Plenos and meetings early this week with a submission by Friday of this week. As of course the month ends on Sunday and Monday is a holiday and any delay into next month could delay action by a lot more than 1 month. Our technical architects have been amazing in their input.

My supportive wife and I went out to sample a walk of over 10kms this afternoon. I had just remembered this morning that we had not organised the million step walk that the authorities in Spain are encouraging Town Halls to organise I spoke with Lola and she aid we just needed to work out a route and then set a date. So my (supportive) wife and I went out to sample a walk of over 10kms this afternoon. So now we have a route, almost 12kms, and we will set a date and time soon and publicise it.

Wheelchair access and Pleno

We held a short Plenary session last night. This was to agree to take responsibility for sufficient supply of water to all the houses until the year 2027. The reason we had to do this was because the PGOU had included reference to the fact that the water supply was guaranteed by Galasa but that they are a private company and could (in actuality) cease to trade leaving the area without sufficient water. So from a technical point of view we had to take over that responsibility. One more hurdle cleared.

We had hoped to be able to put on a big bonfire night event but due to logistics our plans have been scuppered for this year may try again next year.

I am conducting a review of the accessibility of our streets for wheelchairs and prams. It does appear as if we fall some way short of this provision. I will submit a report to see if we can address this problem. I have already met with one wheelchair user. If you know of anyone who wishes to have some input then please put them in touch.

Enjoyable Day

Today was one of the more enjoyable days in the Town Hall.

First we were able to watch the children take part in a  Road Safety awareness course which we had organised for them with the local schools. Over 50 kids took part.

Then on behalf of the poorer families in our community we received over 15 bags full of groceries from the Church of Los Llanos Del Peral.

Then we managed to progress the idea of starting a Monday market day bus service to provide the opportunity for people from all our villages to go to the market at Huercal Overa. This service which we hope to start in a  couple of weeks will cost about 3 or 4 euros and will collect from every village area. This should be of benefit to many people but we (that is the Town Hall) will underwrite the service for a few weeks to see if it can be viable.

And finally we have a Pleno meeting this evening at 8.0pm with just one item on the agenda and that is regarding the Town Hall taking the administrative responsibility for the water supply until 2028. This is an important step for our PGOU.

Postal Boxes opposite La Vida

I have now received 3 requests from people who would like a post box in the bank opposite La Vida. This number is uneconomic to buy and install another bank of boxes but I am aware that number of people have left the area who did own boxes but whose need for them has surely passed.

If you have the keys to a postal box in this location which you have no further need for please let me know. I am sure those waiting would be willing to pay you €30 for your key.

Extension to the New Motorway

As some of you may have noticed it looks like the completion of the motorway from Cucador to Ballabona is now being worked on. I had hoped to be able to give you a time frame but, I have failed to get a commitment on that. I have however reproduced below a copy of the plan for the next section, for your information.
The plan only shows up to our boundary with Concepcion.