Posts (page 2)

Delay

Another delay. We should have had a meeting today but it has been postponed with the promise that I can see candido Monday as he will be in the office all day sorting out budgets.

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Pleno etc

Having just said goodbye to my 8 month old grandson and his parents yesterday, after a two week holiday, which has completely exhausted my wife and I, we got down to some business today.


The Pleno had only a few items to discuss and these included the plans for the new Tanatorio, agreement to sign off the 2008 accounts, and a couple of minor things. After these were discussed it was open to questions and the lady from PSOE raised a few questions around Candido and photos of him in the Spanish press lately questioning his ability to run the Town Hall. Candido and some of the other councillors totally refuted that and said that, as has been the case for the past few years, there is a continuing Political agenda against the Town Hall and he expects that to continue if not even intensify in the run up to the 2011 elections. A lady from the general public then asked a question about how difficult it was to get her children into the nursery.  I discovered, during the debate, that there is even a form of corruption in this matter. It seems that the Directors of the nurseries can pick and choose which children they admit and it does seem as if in some townships, those with money get places which others cannot. It costs in the region of 160 euros per month per child but if there is only one parent they only pay half. So they have the situation here, as in the UK, where married couples are financially penalised.

After the Pleno we adjourned to the bar where I had the chance to question some of the councillors. Firstly I targeted Salvadore and asked him why, when he promised that I would have the full list of street numbers, I still had not got it. He said that the full plan would be ready in a week or two. I said he had been telling me that for months. He said that it was going to be simpler for him and the Town Hall to completely detail the whole plan before releasing it. I asked what those people, who were desperately needing to get onto the Padron, could do. He promised to get all those who have applied for a certificate of empadronimiento and he would give their details to Juan to enable him to issue the certificates. If anyone is in such a situation please email me so I can make sure he gets the paperwork. Juan returns from his holidays on Tuesday next.

I then asked about the certificates of expediente. Candido said that he had spent a few days with the solicitors and they have now got a full list from Almeria Court 1 and Heurca Overa Courts but not yet the full list from Almeria Court 2 which Isa said she would be working on it next week. Once they have the full list it will be easy for them to check and issue C of Es.

I asked about the rumours I had heard about the gun club reopening. I was told that they have reapplied but the paperwork is slowly going through. I asked if I could be made aware so that everyone knows if and when such an application is being considered. They said that the only way of knowing is by continually checking the official Boletin, as we have 21 or 28 days from publication in the Boletin to object. I was advised to keep asking in order that I make sure we are aware of this application before it is granted. I will keep asking. Candido did say that if it looks like being granted the Town Hall can make it conditional on certain actions being taken to minimise noise etc.

I then asked about the piece of land which the residents near the Pool Bar wanted levelling to use for petanque. Candido said he had already told Paco to do this but he would ask him again. The same applied to the raising of the fence around the football pitch. He said it would be quite easy for Paco and he would tell him again. He then said that maybe he should keep a list like I do to ensure jobs are done! He also agreed to restart our weekly meetings staring next Friday so that we can keep abreast of issues.

We then had a lengthy conversation about the WiFi. Firstly Candido explained that the storm last week burnt out the aerials but these are being repaired. He is even doing some of the work himself as is an electrician by trade. He then said that we would need to start charging people soon as Iberbanda are threatening to denounce the Town Hall. I asked if they had decided how to charge and was told that we would need to agree this in Pleno but they were thinking of about 1 euro for 1 meg and possibly up to 13 euros for 3 meg. He informed me that we are awaiting a state of the art piece of kit which will be able to guarantee 3 meg to anyone who wants it. This is a speed which would allow those connected at that speed to download movies, multimedia files, etc easily. He asked me what people were currently paying. Anyone wanting this connection speed would need an Air Max antennae and this would need to  
be installed and configured by someone competent. These antennae are currently over 100 euros but there is a man who is going to buy a quantity and be available to fit and configure peoples computers. It is believed he will do this for a fee of about 140 euros (75 euros for the aerial and the remainder for installation and configuring PCs. One difference between this and the other providers is that the purchaser owns it outright The new main bit of kit for the Town Hall is due next week. 

Obviously those who are happy with the 1 meg connection are not affected it will remain as is. There is a bit of a problem with Cuesta de los Pinos and parts of Llanos del Peral because of its location but they will be looking to site a repeater aerial and I offered my house for that purpose as it has (from the roof) a direct line of sight to the main aerial.

He does want me to canvas people and ascertain how many would want the 3 meg connection speed as the Town hall cannot buy them it would be up to an individual, who the Town Hall will engage, to buy and then install these. 

So if anyone would be considering this connection speed, which they do say will be guaranteed, then please let me know so that they have some idea how many will be needed. This information is, apparently, all on the Town Hall website but at the moment only in Spanish. I have asked for it to be translated into English and that should be done next week at www.zurgena.es. 

As usual if anyone has any queries or I have not clarified anything well enough just drop me an email at jiminysimpson@gmail.com or ring 661147554.

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Road Improvements

Again not seen Candido yet this week as he has only been in the Town Hall for about 5 minutes. I will try again tomorrow but if that fails I will be seeing him on Friday as there is a Pleno meeting at noon. So if I fail tocatch him before then I will make sure I grab him after the Pleno.


Just for information, and I am indebted to Ken Cross for forwarding me this information, there is a major facelift to our local roads to be undertaken in the next year or so. The Diputacion of Almeria has set aside 1.2 million euros for the purposes of resurfacing and improving the Zurgena to Arboleas road and the road which goes through El Palaces from the the A7 to Zurgena. There are other projects but these are the ones which relate to our area. Additionally a mains water system is to be installed for all in the area. Although it does not specify which area that is and I will need to clarify it with the Town Hall.

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Bits of Info

I have called in twice this week to try and Catch Candido but have failed both times. The Town Hall will contact me when he is next in and when I can get a chance to speak with him re the outstanding issues.

The telephone number for the Town Hall which some had asked for is 950449006.

I did discover that 3 local Spanish men have recently been arrested in connection with a series of burglaries and thefts. More detail has been circulated to NHW members.

I have had many communciations regarding the issue of driving licences and the requirement for medical certificates and I am indebted to Marie Louisa (Polizia Local at Arboleas) who has contacted the Traffic department in Almeria who have confirmed the following,
British citizens who are resident in ALMERIA and who hold a valid up to date UK EU photo driving licence do NOT require a medical certificate to validate the licence.
This applies to all ages.
The new law that was introduced in May 2009 is not being applied by the Almeria authorities.
However if you are stopped, or have an accident, driving out of Almeria province?, mid Spain or north, or even Ikea in Murcia, not sure how we would be affected?.  This is still a grey area, we are trying to confirm the law.

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Holidays Over

We got back from our extended holiday on Tuesday night having driven directly from Santander to Zurgena in 9 hours.


We enjoyed our holiday although, whilst we were there, my wife's father, who was ill in hospital, deteriorated and died. At least we were able to see him a few times before he left us and we were able to be at the funeral.

I intend getting into the Town Hall next week to see what, if anything, has happened whilst we have been away. I suspect very little with the majority of the time being in August! There were many queries waiting me re the WiFi when I got home.

I will be particularly asking whether any developments in the PGOU and the roll out of house numbers which they promised me would be ready when I returned.

For those of you who have my home telephone number I have now changed it to use Vonage and therefore my home number in Spain is 951190415 and for those in the UK it is 01924 566021. Both these numbers ring my home phone in Spain but only cost the same as if you were in that particular country eg dialling the english number from an english number would attract that relevant rate likewise Spain to Spanish number. My mobile remains the same 661147554.

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2nd WiFi Meeting

We held the second meeting regarding the roll out of the Zurgena WiFi at Anthonios bar/restaurant at 8.0pm tonight and what a fantastic turn out with over 200 people present.


Candido explained the difficulties in getting to this stage and some of the hurdles they had to overcome. But as it was an election manifesto promise they had persevered to reach this stage with a state of the art system which is the first of its kind and price in Almeria province. It is promised that they will charge 1 euro per month for the connection. At the moment it is still free.

Juan the technical guy who installed the system was on Skype phone through the PC that Candido was using so that he could assist with questions.

I do have to apologise to people at the back of the room who I discovered could not hear very well at all primarily because of the acoustics in the room.

To summarise one can connect to the WiFi by clicking on the WiFi icon in the bottom right hand and when the list is populated it will show one connection beginning NS22 (I think) which is our connection. People should be able to connect if reasonably close to and within direct sight line of one of the aerials. If not it may be necessary to buy an USB antennae (about 30 euros online) or even an external antennae (an additional 20 euros) to connect by cable to a USB antennae. The Town Hall is going to try and get someone to be able to assist residents in identifying which connection would be best for them and also try and assist in getting any equipment at a cheaper price through bulk buying. It is a pity that I am on holiday as from tomorrow for about 5 weeks but I will try and sort something out when I get back.

In the meantime I have had contact with an individual who has experience in this field and would be able to provide this service but I have no idea what he would charge. It may be worthwhile contacting him for an idea. I cannot envisage it being expensive as the antennae are only 30 euros. That individual is Mike Gatyne who can be contacted on 687601567. He lives on the main road between Cucador and Llanos del Peral and is well known in the area.

The meeting concluded and a lovely spread of serrano ham, cheese, bread and beer was provided free of charge and, I think, many of those who stayed until this point realised what a great community asset the bar restaurant could be if the right person ever gets control of it but it was nice to see how it could be.

I am now on holiday until the 8th September and I will obviously (according to my wife) not be posting anything until after that date. For your information many other Town Hall employees will be on holiday at varying stages of the next few weeks and Andreas starts a long holiday next Friday until 17th September.

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WiFi 2nd Meeting

We had our first meeting for the residents of La Alfoquia, Los Carasoles, Barrio de Chicago and Cucador this morning and there was a better attendance than I thought given the short notice everyone had.


Candido did a presentation followed by a power point presentation by the technical guy who has installed the system. He then took questions after explaining how it worked and how people could connect to it.

We are to hold a second meeting for all the other residents of the municipality (with the exception of Los Menchones, as it will be another month until they are connected) at 8.0pm on Tuesday 4th August.

So those residents of Palaces, Llanos del Peral, Cuesta de los Pinos and anyone who missed the presentation at the Pool bar today are invited to a meeting in the Bar/Restaurant which is on the road between Cucador and Llanos del Peral. Although this building has not yet been taken into use Candido will get Paco to put some seats, electric etc in. This is the building which Anthonio of New Horizons built but which cannot yet be let. You can bring along your laptop if you have one so that you can check the connection.

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WIFI LAUNCH

Just been told (10.30am Satuday 1st August) that we are to have a meeting in the Pool Bar at 10.30am tomorrow (Sunday) morning to launch the WiFi system and have an explanation of how it will work and have a beer!


This meeting is for the residents of La Alfoquia, Los Carasoles, Cucador and Barrio de Chicago. The other areas will be done later.

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Some News

At last managed to catch Candido today. He has been spending a lot of time to-ing and fro-ing to Almeria re discussions on the PGOU and also attending court cases. The same has been the case with a number of councillors and that is the reason that I still have not got the inventory. He has promised me faithfully that it will be ready when I return from my holidays in Early September!


He was able to report that the council had won another series of cases in the Courts at Almeria and this now covered all the developements in La Alfoquia and Barrio de Chicago. It is not know if the Junta are appealing this decision or not but they are relaxed about that as the previous cases were subsequently won on appeal.

On behalf of those persons who are on the list that the Junta want to confirm are still here I asked what could be done if they were not going to be here for some time. We had a discussion with JoseJuan who stated that he had not been given a time frame so we would let it run until the end of the year then look at how many we still had outstanding then.

On behalf of a resident of La Alfoquia I asked about the radio mast. They had been told by the agent selling them the house that it was temporary but that I had been told it was permanent. Candido made some enquiries and returned to tell us that the only way of making sure was to try and find the original building permit but that, as this was granted some 10 to 12 years ago, he thought it unlikely they could find it. I said that I thought they had discussed it in Pleno and he informed me that it had actually been granted long before he became Mayor. he said he would ask Isa to try and see if she could find a record of it.

I then said that a number of people were getting worried about articles they were reading and things they were hearing about residents having to pay infrastructure costs. Candido looked quite surprised at this suggestion. He firstly said that apart from a few roads, which he was aware of and the Town Hall were looking to pay for he did  not of anywhere where this would be the case. He said it would be true that every developement included in the PGOU would have to have electricity, sewerage and access anything else is surplus to the basic requirements of the law. The issue becomes more complex when looking at the wider issue of Urban Land (SU) and Urban Land Non Consolidated (SUNC). he gave me a lengthy explanation about how this is calculated but it is too complex for me to explain on here. Suffice it to say that the main issue here revolves around the inclusion of green areas. He stated quite categorically that as far as this was concerned we were in a far better position than any other municipality in the valley as they insisted on a minimum of 15% for each developement as opposed to the legal minimum of 10%. He said people should not read about other areas and think the same applies to Zurgena. 

He confirmed what he had said some two weeks ago, that the PGOU discussions, although not yet concluded, are going quite well and he is confident that our PGOU will be published by September. I have heard such promises before but he did seem confident.

Finally he told me that another of his election manifesto promises has been completed today and that is the supply of WiFi throughout the area. As it was a manifesto pledge he wants to have meetings to launch the system. One in the Pool Bar in la Alfoquia for that side of the municipality and one in Anthonio's bar restaurant at Cuesta de los Pinos. He asked if I could attend both meetings with him to launch the initiative and I agreed. We are looking at Saturday and Monday but I am awaiting a call to confirm time and date.

I also handed in to the Polizia Local a UV lamp for the NHW property marking initiative. 

As usual if anyone has any specific queries regarding any part of this blog please email me at jiminysimpson@gmail.com 

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Another Week Passes

I have been into the Town Hall each day this week to try and get the inventory and maps so that I could issue them before I am on holiday but so far have failed. I am sitting in the office now but Salvadore is not in nor is Candido who has again gone down to Almeria. All I can say is that I willtry every day until my holidays.

I have been given another list of a few persons who the Junta want us to confirm are still here and they are as follows,

Karen Baber, Nora Byrne, Peter and Edna Makin, Linda Moorman, and a Graham Perrior. If you know any of these persons please ask them to call into the town Hall to confirm they still are on the padron.

If anyone has not checked the fuller list of names on the post vefore last please do so.

Two things I have been asked to mention are fires and stray animals. The first I would have thought was quite obvious at this time however, some people do not seem to realise the danger in starting fires in this climate. It is illegal to have a fire at this time of year and the punishmenst for doing so are high.

Secondly it used to be the case that the Town Hall paid for a contracted company to round up stray cats and dogs and put them down. Due to the financial constraints this contract expired over a year ago with the consequent result of many stray cats and dogs. I realise it is a touchy subject but the locals have been known to kill humanely or otherwise stray animals as they see them as responsible for taking/killing small game birds. It is therefore not really advisable to feed or encourage these animals.   

Lastly I was trying to get Paco to see to the lights which are out of order at the Prodelor houses in La Alfoquia however he only has a few staff (due to holidays) and they are spending this week with the WiFi people helping to install that across the area. He does have it on his list to do!

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