Scrub fire in Nova Xàbia
Feb 22nd
A scrub fire has burned some 250 square metres of pine forest and scrub in Calle Lastres (Nova Xàbia). It had been started by someone's bonfire of tree prunings which had been badly extinguished. The Town Council asked that people show common sense. It is irresponsible to dump garden rubbish in the forest, let alone burn it there. The fire was put out by park firemen, civil protection and local police. (From Press Release)
Young people build a BMX circuit with help from the Town Hall
Feb 21st
Two young friends have teamed up with the Town hall and a group of enthusiasts to build a BMX circuit in the Pou del Moro area. The Town Hall has provided the land, the soil for building the track and bought a ramp. All the labour was provided by the BMX enthusiasts themselves. They have created four different graded circuits. The idea is to provide a resource for the youth of the town, encourage them not to practice sport in unsuitable places (like Portal del Clot) and in future organise competitions. This initiative came about through the Young peoples Citizen's Participation project promoted by Councillor Cesc Camprubí. From XAD: Unos jovenes......
AMJASA to repair pipelines on five major roads
Feb 21st
AMJASA will spend €200,000 to repair and replace five water mains which have reputations for frequent leaks. The jobs will be undertaken in 2012 by local contractors. The contracts are for: Avenida Lepanto (71.074€), Avenida Augusta (40.992€), Avenida Mediterráneo (33.494€), Travesía Cansalades (8.966€) and Avenida Libertad (40.010€). Work will begin after Easter and is scheduled to be finished before 15th June. The work has been made possible by the improved economic performance of the water company which has moved from a deficit of €821,068 in 2010 to an expected surplus of €319,000 in 2012. It should be noted that 40% of the water supply is lost through leaks. From Press Release and XAD:Amjasa repara...
Municipally promoted service connects 200 homes by Wireless Internet in Moraira/Teulada
Feb 21st
A pioneering service provided by the company DM Systems http://www.dmsystems.es/ has connected 200 homes to the Internet by long distance wireless. The the Teulada/Moraira Town Hall launched the project in July. The system is capable of connecting up to 10,000 homes with high speed broadband and can also be used to manage security cameras. Tariffs are €11.20 for one mega; with 3 and 6 megabyte costing €15.25 and €17.70 per month plus IVA. No telephone line required. From: Teulada Town Hall website
Major issues aired at First meeting of Town Planning Committee
Subsequent meetings open to the public
Feb 17th
Following its formal establishment, the Committee on Planning and Environment met for the first time this week. It is an advisory body composed of representatives of professional associations, business and Agenda 21 , as well as various municipal groups. In this first contact, each representative gave a list of demands and issues which the respective groups thought important for the advisory body to address. The majority agreed on a number of issues to tackle such as bye laws on the occupation of public roads, planning regulations and road re-organisation. For full report on the meeting see: Sectoral Committee on Town Planning and the Environment - First Meeting
http://agenda21-xabia.wikidot.com/sectoral-committee-on-town-planning-and-the-environment-firs
Training course for AMJASA plumbers
Feb 16th
The municipal water company AMJASA , has obtained a grant from la Asociación Española de Empresas Gestoras de los Servicios de Agua a Poblaciones (AGA)( Spanish Association of public Water Services Managers) to improve the training of their workers. This will consist of a course on corrective maintenance in water distribution systems for plumbers, comprised of nine AMJASA professionals and three additional unemployed workers. Classes will be held on Friday mornings of the 2, 9 and 16th March and will be taught by AGA technical training staff. From XAD Los fontaneros.... For more details in English see: Amjasa AGA training http://agenda21-xabia.wikidot.com/amjasa-aga-training
Participatory budgets - a tool for participation and municipal management
Feb 17th
In a talk held on Wednesday 15th in the Casa de Cultura, Sociologist Francisco Francés García defined a participatory budget as: "a tool for participation and management of the town, through which the citizen decides on a portion of public expenditure." Participatory Budgeting in Spain has been developed over the past 10 years. First to adopt it was an Andalucian town and now the practice has spread to nearly 70 municipalities of all sizes across the country, but mainly along the Mediterranean coast. In cities between 10 000 and 50 000 inhabitants, it is normal to allocate on average 1.90% of the municipal revenue to a participatory budget.
Last November, the citizens of Xàbia were able to vote on a preset list of projects making up €400,000, representing some 0.8% of the money in the municipal coffers in 2012. Mayor José Chulvi , and the Councillor for Citizen Participation, Cesc Camprubí, explained that this is not exactly how the government team wanted to develop participatory budgets , but it was all they could do in the short time they had had after being elected. So this year they had decided to start the project earlier, with the idea of presenting the budget in October. This talk was the first step to defining a better procedure. Fran Francés went on to describe how participatory budgets were organised in other towns in Spain, and the strengths and weaknesses of the different models. For a full account of the talk see: Participatory budgets
http://agenda21-xabia.wikidot.com/participatory-budgets
Carnaval without sardine burial will save €3,800
Feb 16th
This year no dead sardine will be buried at Xàbia's Carnaval which will be celebrated in the Old Town on Saturday 18th February. The cancellation of this little ritual, particularly the accompanying band and mobile disco will directly save €3800, not to speak of police overtime. From Las Provincias: Xàbia ahorra.... The Childrens' parade will begin at 5.00pm and the celebrations for adults at 11.00pm.
1. First meeting of Town Planning advisory Committee - This is an advisory body composed of representatives of professional associations, business and Agenda 21 , as well as various municipal groups. They came up with some issues which need addressing, including planning regulations (is your swimming pool too close to the edge of your plot??)
http://agenda21-xabia.wikidot.com/sectoral-committee-on-town-planning-and-the-environment-firs
2. Talk on Participatory Budgets - given by a specialist in the field from Alicante University. A participatory budget is : "a tool for participation and management of the town, through which the citizen decides on a portion of public expenditure." ... and Xàbia is going to have one. Not sure how this will be organised yet.
http://agenda21-xabia.wikidot.com/participatory-budgets
....and here is the rest of the news.
