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Formentera green-lights tweak of local directive to enable land handoff, build of children's park in Sant Ferran

ple-marc---2019 premsa1In a plenary assembly convened today by the Formentera Council, Gent per Formentera, PSOE and PP party members voted to approve proposed changes to the island's Pla Territorial (“Land Strategy”) laying the groundwork for course corrections and upgrades in new rules. Land councillor Alejandra Ferrer said the revisions were necessary for “compliance with regulations, adapting to new needs and correcting errors that have come up”.

Among the changes Ferrer enumerated, one was made possible by a deal concerning a plot of land in Sant Ferran. The accord gets the ball rolling on a land handoff which will open the door to construction of a new children's park (part of the island's participatory spending initiative), not to mention another land grant—this time to the Balearic housing authority, or IBAVI—so that low-cost public housing can be constructed in Sant Ferran.

CENF directives
With “yes” votes from the GxF, PSOE and Compromís and a “no” from the PP, approval was secured by an early motion to vet the use and operations directive for the island's “Nautical Sports Centre” (Centre d'Esports Nàutics de Formentera, or CENF).

The CENF build is still pending authorisation from the Balearic coastal authority (Demarcació de Costes). The facility will consist of two distinct spaces, said CiF sport councillor Jordi Vidal, “one for administrative offices and social and educational initiatives related to the sea, and another for nautical sports”.

The directive also covers the way Formentera's “Municipal Sailing School” (EMVF) is used. The EMVF will have access to CENF facilities and equipment to conduct sailing activities included in the “quality school” programme. Club Surf Formentera and the Balearic sailing federation have both collaborated in the programme for the last several years.

Waste transfer
Plenary members also signed off unanimously on a proposal about services offered by UTE GIREF, the firm contracted to transport waste to Eivissa. Environment councillor Daisee Aguilera pointed out that this year the island sent 500 tonnes, or 8.5 per cent, less rubbish to the transfer plant. The Formentera Council is responsible for meeting these costs, which, compared to 2017, are down €70,800.

Other disposables carry no associated transfer costs because they are already footed by recycling firms. Aguilera pointed out that recycling is at 29 per cent, putting Formentera residents ahead of most of their neighbours in the Balearics.

Report from culture, education and heritage councillor
Culture, education and heritage councillor Susana Labrador spoke to members of the day's session about her departments' work over the last year.

Among the range of initiatives under way, Labrador trumpeted the remodel of la Mola lighthouse. When work finished in January, upwards of two thousand people went to visit the space as part of a full month of open day events at the weekend. She indicated the museum side of the project is not far off and put the opening in early summer.

Labrador highlighted collaboration between the Council and Govern as key to bringing the Formentera museum closer to reality—not to mention the purchase of sa Senieta, which will house the museum seat.

Labrador underscored upgrades and expansion of the year-long programme of cultural activities put together by the CiF culture department in an effort, she said, “to be inclusive of every form of artistic expression and style”.

Turning to education, Labrador assured her department is “in it for keeps on early learning policies with clear objectives: quality education, no waiting lists in 2019, and vouchers—for enrolment and the cafeteria—to remove barriers facing children from lower income families”.

Labrador also called attention to the breadth of Catalan language courses available through the “Language Advisory Service” (Servei d'Assessorament Lingüístic), not to mention a suite of other consulting and support services for the Council's entire network of departments.

Official statements
In addition, assembly members voted in favour of two official proclamations: one concerning International Women's Day on March 8 (GxF, PSOE and Compromís party reps voted “yes” alongside PP abstention).

Council members signed off wholesale on a declaration of support to keep spills and pollutants out of the Mediterranean Sea.

March 29, 2019
Àrea de Comunicació
Formentera Council

Earth Hour Formentera

foto Hora del planetaHaving signed on to Earth Hour 2019, the Formentera Council will turn of the lamps illuminating the Sant Francesc church tomorrow, Saturday March 30 between 8.30pm and 9.30pm, as a symbolic gesture to promote energy-saving efforts.

CiF environment councillor Daisee Aguilera said that, along with the administration's adhesion to the event, the Council has committed to “educating islanders about the multiplicity of earth-friendly measures at their disposal, like conserving energy, reducing single-use plastics and opting for more sustainable modes of transport”. “They're small steps”, she said. “When all of us do them, though, they become huge”.

March 29, 2019
Àrea de Comunicació
Formentera Council

Council grants activity permit for la Savina parking building

The Formentera Council's department of land reports the administration has awarded Sovalgaray Marítima a permit to run a car park in the space they occupy in a building on the western pavement of la Savina port.

It is the Council's hope that the business begins operations in la Savina before this summer. Their opening has already been announced by Sovalgaray Marítima and the Balearic port authority.

 

March 28, 2019
Àrea de Comunicació
Formentera Council

Guidelines for estany des Peix infrastructure await go-ahead from coastal authority

foto 2019 estany 3 consellers 1At the behest of the Estany des Peix sport fishermen's club, CiF chairman Jaume Ferrer, deputy chair and rural affairs councillor Bartomeu Escandell, and environment councillor Daisee Aguilera hosted an information session today to talk to islanders about the proposed project to regulate watercraft anchored at estany des Peix.

Ferrer said regulation was about improving the situation of the lake—a landmark celebrated for stunning vistas—and maintaining its use as a traditional fishing site and refuge for small boats.

According to Aguilera, the Council has already prepared a draft project for installation of floating pontoons and environmentally-friendly mooring points which accommodate a maximum of watercraft in those places ecological and heritage statutes allow for them.

The draft project was sent to the Govern's environment ministry, which enlarged upon it, conducted related environmental studies, capped the official capacity at 285 boats and forwarded the document to the coastal authority (Demarcació de Costes, or simply “Costes”) for review and approval. Under a deal struck yesterday at the signing of a partnership between Formentera and the regional environment ministry, the Council will be responsible for managing the new equipment and regulating how it is used.

Ferrer said that the most pressing concern—how to pay for and manage the equipment—was at the origin of a bid to tap the “Sustainable Tourism Levy” for €652,154 in funding.

Escandell confirmed it: “We've got the partnership deal, the project plan and the funding. All we're waiting on is the go-ahead from Costes, and we'll be through with the first phase. We're looking ahead to phase two now, which will be a communal effort here on Formentera to create a regulatory backbone and submit it to Consell d'Entitats for approval”.

Questions from islanders
Some one hundred turned up for the meeting. The first question dealt with commercial activity at the lake, a possibility the CiF chair dismissed, explaining that “estany des Peix statutes prohibit it and this particular project doesn't allow for it”. According to Ferrer the Balearic port authority (APB) has been contacted with a request that arrangements be made for certain for-profit activities in the port, but not in the lake”.

Other questions turned on the cost for individual islanders, the kinds of boats that will be permitted to anchor and preferential seniority...and all received a similar response from Escandell. “The time to figure out the details and come up with a directive for the scheme starts now”, he said. “We'll be building this thing from the ground up, and doing it all together”.

Faced with questions regarding dry-dock ramps and parking, the CiF chair said such issues required their own respective projects, which, in turn, would need the approval of Costes. “More projects will emerge on the fly based on the needs of islanders who use the lake”, he stressed. “For now, regulating watercraft mooring will be centred on the permits to install environmentally-friendly buoys and pontoons”.


March 28, 2019
Àrea de Comunicació
Formentera Council

Formentera Council and Govern clinch deal opening door to ordering and regulation of Estany des Peix moorage

foto-signatura-estany-des-peix1CiF chairman Jaume Ferrer and Balearic minister of environment, agriculture and fishing Vicenç Vidal signed a deal to work together on the creation and management of floating docks and environmentally-friendly moorage points at Estany des Peix.

Chairman Ferrer called the day historic. “This deal puts us in a position to regulate how boats can anchor at one of Formentera's signature sites”, he said, “and means we can finally heed a long-standing appeal of islanders, and restore the pond's environmental balance with more traditional uses of Estany des Peix”. For his part, Vidal said the deal “hands over the reins to the branch of government that's closest to the people”.

Under the deal the Formentera Council will oversee watercraft mooring at Estany des Peix once the Palma administration completes a related plan and secures approval of it by the coastal authority.

The Council, responsible for granting moorage points, will be on the hook for creating and proposing use guidelines as well, the idea being to define the terms for watercraft owners to ensure the site's “environmental and traditional values” are safeguarded.

As for the administration in Palma, the Govern will oversee science-based study and tracking of the programme's impact on the Estany des Peix ecosystem, including flora and fauna. It will also take charge of implementing strategies, together with the Formentera Council, to recover and conserve pond habitats. In October 2018, decision makers voted to enact the project with €652,154 from the “Sustainable Tourism Levy” (Impost de Turisme Sostenible).

 

March 27, 2019
Àrea de Comunicació
Formentera Council

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