Street Lights Cuesta de los Pinos (Cucador Norte)

For nearly two weeks now the street lights have been out across a large part of the above area. The Town Hall electrician believes he has located the problem and hopes to have them working later today.

We have now compiled a map showing the locations where ramps are needed in La Alfoquia. These are needed to allow wheelchairs and prams access to the pavements around La Alfoquia village. We do not have a budget for this so the Town Hall staff will do them bit by bit.

Calle Finlandia Avenida Europa & others

Today we had a meeting with one of our ex pat residents (Alan Marshall) who is a qualified road/bridge engineer.

I had asked him to meet with the Councillor for Public Works and the architect to explain his views on remedies to the road collapses on Agenda Europa, Calle Finlandia, Ireland, Escocia and others.

The meeting was informed that, as usual the regional authorities ask for our quotes, following such storms, very quickly and we have insufficient time to get a proper quote, thereby, each time, leaving us to make requests for financial support based on incomplete information.

However, we were meeting to find a way forward and with Alans´ assistance have identified proper ways to remedy the insecure roads. We will now be obtaining surveys and quotes with a view to applying for the financial support to implement these plans, which I would guess could be during 2016. That is what we will be aiming for. 

Police, Jazz in the Park, Andres and Storm Repair Funding

For the information of all the Polizia Local can be contacted when they are on duty using the following number 664 395 513. As there are only 4 there cannot be 24x7 coverage and in the event of emergencies the 112 number should always be used. They can also be contacted by email at polizialocalzurgena@hotmail.com

Jazz in the Park at the chirinquito bar in Gines Parra Park at the bottom of Zurgena just above the rambla.

For information Andres is off work for the next two weeks as he is using up his holidays.

Our secretary and Architect have today gone down to Almeria with papers prepared to request funding to assist with repairs to the storm damaged areas. Hope we get a quick and favourable response.

  

PGOU, 1st Run of Bus Service and Medieval Market

Please find below a sequence of events relative to our work on the PGOU since April 2014.

1. 28th April 2014 Plenary session of the Council opened the administrative procedure for public consultation of the plan and to seek any objections or requests from any organisations or administrative entities or any affected public interest.
   
2. 29th April 2014 Communication of the plan to surrounding Town Halls in order that they may make any representations or requirements known.
   
3. 6th May until 6th June 2014 Period of public examination or comment on the plans. During this period 79 allegations were presented to the Town Hall.
   
4. Between 30th July and 14th October 2014 proposed resolutions to the allegations or amendments were signed by the editing architect of the PGOU Mr Francisco Salvador Granados and incorporated into the plan.
   
5. The modifications to the plan as above were not substantial since and according to jurisprudence these allegations/representations would not substantially alter the overall, model of the plan.
   
6. 21st October 2014 Plenary session of the council was held to resolve these matters and provisionally approve the document of the PGOU of the municipality.
   
7. 16th December 2014 Binding sectoral (departmental) reports were requested from the Junta and the following were received on the dates shown 15th December area of fomentation from the Deputation. 6th April 2015 General Director Telecommunications and technology, 24th March Delegation of Culture Junta de Andalucia, 24th March Delegate of environment (water) Junta de Andalusia, 25th March <Report from the Territorial Delegation of environment Junta da Andalucia.
   
8. 17th February 2015 an extraordinary Plenary meeting of the council was held to approve the an appendix to the plan incorporating the above (7) reports and the content of the appendix and modifications to the document again did not substantially alter the model of the plan or the public interest which is protected by the delegations etc who submitted their reports.
   
9. After the approval of the document (the appendix referred to in 8 above) no new sectorial reports were requested by the Junta as no new modifications were introduced which could impact the structural ordinance nor the public interest.
   
10. Following the submission of the approval of this appendix an unfavourable report was received from the the Consejeria de Medio Ambiente regarding water issues and this was forwarded to the editing team for corrections.
    
11. 23rd October 2015 the document appendix 2 of the memorandum of the PGOU for Zurgena was received to address these issues. Drafted by the architect D Francisco Salvador for its incorporation to the file and remittal back to the Consejeria de Medio Ambiente y Ordinacion del Territorio (Council of the environment and ordination of the territory). The content of the appendix and the modifications carried out again do not substantially affect the decisions within the structural ordination but they do alter the protected interests of the public by the administrative entities and organisations which issued the reports and therefore the request of the reports from those organisations which could be affected is considered necessary
    
12. 30th October 2015 the appendix 2 is provisionally approved and sent on the same day to the delegation of the environment and ordinance of the territory for its approval.
    

These are the bureaucratic steps that have been taken over the past year and a half. To summarise, the plans have been going through these processes for a long time but eventually it came down to about 18 objections based of water issues e.g. location of waste pipe or supply pipes. We have proposed (after discussions with our technical architect Francisco Salvador Granados) that each of these water points should be considered as favourable but conditional. Meaning that although we accept the points we are proposing ways that we can address these points. By doing it this way we hope to shorten the time necessary for the acceptance of the general plan. We now can only sit and wait for their response which has to be within 5 months of the submission date (that was why we were frantically meeting before the end of October). We

hope and expect the Junta to accept our plan in this format as it is how other areas have progressed their plans. As you can see from the above steps we have complied with and resubmitted our plans as quickly as possible at each stage of this latest series of requests. We now can only hope that no further objections or issues are raised (we do not think there can be) and that it is passed to the commission at the earliest opportunity. We will continue to press for that to be the case.

We ran the new bus service last Friday round the villages and into Zurgena and then today up to the market at Huercal Overa. Only 6 passengers last Friday but that included 3 elderly Spanish ladies from Palaces.Today I felt the timings were better and I am hopeful that more will make use of it otherwise we will have to discontinue it, which would be a shame as so many had previously intimated that they wanted such a service.

The annual Medieval Market will again be held in the Plaza del Olmo in Zurgena Pueblo on the 13th, 14th and 15th November. Pop along and enjoy the artisan crafts and the atmosphere is the old village square. Oh and spend some money.

Storm Damage Repairs

We have, as you could probably guess, many street and accesses that require attention following the downpour last weekend. The Town Hall staff (me included) have been attending these situations to compile a list and a plan to remedy the issues. These include applying for grants where necessary to enable us to make the repairs including more substantial ones where necessary.

We will work our way through this list, which includes individual properties, as well as streets, which have suffered damage or inundations but please be patient.

Bus Service

Just to remind everyone of the commencement of the new Bus Services to Zurgena market (Friday) and Huercal Overa Market (Mondays).  The times and bus stops are as per the blog post of 27th October with the addition of one in Barrio de Chicago 0935 Fridays and 0940 Mondays.

I hope that enough people will use it. I myself will be riding on both buses and will speak with any and all passengers to get an idea for future plans. Use it for convenience or as a social event.

I had a meeting with the owner of Piki autobuses this morning to look at establishing a more regular (daily) bus service to and from Huercal Overa. We have agreed that, should there be sufficient interest, the TH will underwrite such a service. I personally think it could be a great benefit to residents and will be hoping for good support. If you believe that you would benefit from or use such a service please let me know. We are trying to formulate budgets for next year and this is one area I would like the TH to support but only there is a desire or need for it.

I will be posting an official update regarding all our recent work regarding the PGOU and where we are with this in the next day or two. I am just awaiting official clearance and final translations of a couple of documents to ensure accuracy.

Help Desk Press Release

The Help Desk at Zurgena Town Hall  assists in over 500 queries in first quarter

The main areas of assistance related to health care, utility bills and the urban General Plan.

The community service to British citizens of Zurgena has dealt with more than 500 queries (520 in total) from the month of June until last September. This service referred to as the 'Help Desk', is a service offered by the city of Zurgena to English speakers to help the citizens of the municipality with different administrative procedures to the same level as that of the indigenous residents.

Most of the attention and help given related to consultations about health issues and treatments and other issues about the social care. Additionally many enquiries related to municipal matters and formalities of residence registration, real estate tax and the obtaining of the CIF, as well as claims and advice on basic services, invoices regarding electricity and water as well as claims and incidents on public transport and the municipality. Specific information where appropriate regarding the General Plan of urban management (PGOU).

Another type of consultation that has been dealt with by the 'Help Desk' in the last four months are the requests for information on opening a new business.

The Help Desk has assisted many people by providing a one-stop translation service to solve different formalities.

“The Help Desk in English is essential for many of our neighbors that, due to the complexity of many procedures or to the urgency of many situations, is a very valuable service to assist any citizen in this service," said Help Desk provider José Manuel Gómez.

The Help Desk has also been commissioned to promote classes in Spanish for citizens of British origin. A score of neighbours currently use this service that allows them to receive one free hour a week of lessons in Spanish, in order to further encourage their integration into the local community.

The Mayor of Zurgena, Luis Díaz, believes that "for us it is a priority that all our citizens receive the same service and with the same quality, including those neighbors who willingly chose years ago our town to live". The Mayor explains that in addition to"provide a great service to hundreds of people each month, the Help Desk helps us meet our neighbors and find out what their concerns, priorities and suggestions to build a better Zurgena, day after day betting on the integration of all of its neighbours”.

Councillor for the english speaking community Jim Simpson added, ¨the addition of Jose Manuel to the staff in the Town Hall has greatly improved our ability to help our 

community with a broad range of issues and to be more proactive in our future planning.¨

The picture shows from left tom right Jose Manuel Gomez, Jim Simpson, Maria Dolores Garcia (Teniente Alcalde) and Luis Diaz Garcia (Alcalde)