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Formentera to zone Sant Francesc, Sant Ferran, La Mola and Ses Bardetes as exclusively residential

foto ple setembre 2018The Formentera Council celebrated its September plenary session today, bringing cross-party support for a preliminary motion that will establish criteria in determining which areas can be zoned for holiday rentals and which must be restricted to residential.

Defended by Alejandra Ferrer, who is the Council's land, trade and tourism secretary and a member of Gent per Formentera, the proposal is identical to one adopted this June by the island's coalition of community leaders, the “Council of Entities”. Both put urban settlements like Sant Francesc, Sant Ferran, La Mola and Ses Bardetes which have residential ordinances and structural characteristics outside the category permitting holiday rentals.

The proposals envision tourist-use zoning  for urban areas with “full tourism” or “mixed” designations, such as La Savina, Es Pujols, Es Ca Marí, Mariland, Es Caló, Punta Prima, Sa Roqueta and any rural properties. In an effort to forestall “urbanising pressure”, landowners in rural areas will face one caveat: to obtain a listing as “apt for tourism-use”, a structure must have been in place already in 2010, when Formentera's land use strategy took effect.

Secretary Ferrer said the proposal, aside from delivering islanders “a quality of life improvement”, is about “bolstering Formentera's stock of year-round housing, improving the quality of our for-tourist offering and reducing the strain that human presence on the island represents”.

Other agreements

Gent per Formentera also secured unanimous backing for five more proposals, like guidelines for tourism-related ordinances, the 'strategic plan for children and young people' for 2018-2022, and an appeal for Madrid's buy-in on a new agreement concerning highways.

Meanwhile the Partido Popular won full support for a motion to provide more information about local restrictions on quads. Three other motions stalled after failing to garner the votes of the remaining groups. The PSOE scored cross-party support for a proposal to oversee upgrades at the island's athletics pitch.

When a PSOE request for improved accessibility to public documents revealed cross-party support for supplying council members with access to pertinent documentation, the original motion took on a transactional quality, ultimately emerging as a request for a detailed legal report from the Council's secretary regarding the extent and way in which the administration ought to facilitate such information. CiF chief Jaume Ferrer assured that the measure would be met with the “full cooperation” of his administration.

Request to fast-track maritime transport decree

During the part of the session dedicated to expedited motions, senior administration members on the Gent per Formentera side aired frustration about delays that have dogged a decree on maritime transport ordinances. They urged the Govern balear to fast-track the drafting of the decree, which is expected as a follow-up to a piece of legislation known as “11/2010” and would fix ferry passage frequency and regulate other aspects of maritime excursions. The expedited motion passed with “yes” votes from Gent per Formentera and Compromís. Partido Popular and PSOE party members abstained.

Report

Taking the floor to provide a report on efforts over the last year in the infrastructures, mobility and new technologies offices, Rafael González highlighted the drafting and presentation before the Council of Entities, and approval from the Palma administration, of a piece of legislation regulating inbound vehicles on the island. He also applauded a recently completed “mobility plan” and described both measures as “extremely important in orienting Formentera towards the future”.

Formentera gets new fire engine

foto-camio bombers1The Formentera Council is preparing to reinforce its firefighting service with a €191,000 waterpump-equipped light lorry. The Balearic port authority (APB) will hand over the vehicle as part of a 2014 agreement between the agency and the Council.

Pitched as “safety enhancement” for La Savina's port, the deal covers fire prevention and extinction efforts, rescue and emergency preparedness. The Formentera Council will match the APB's material and financial support with the manpower and expertise of the island's fire brigade.

In addition to the fire engine, the Council will receive €10,000 for accessories specific to harbour operations. APB president Joan Gual de Torrella and CiF chief Jaume Ferrer made the deal official at a Wednesday September 26 signing at the agency's head office in Palma.

This autumn Formentera welcomes new faces to police force

foto policia localThe Formentera Council reports that four contenders have successfully completed competitive exams and will be assigned to positions as career public servants for the local police force, an entity administered by the Council. In the weeks ahead the individuals will officially enter the ranks as funcionaris en pràctiques, or “civil servants in training”.

The Formentera Council was the first to embark upon this particular selection procedure since the December approval of a legislative tweaking changed how local police forces cooperate. That modification, sought by Formentera, meant a drastic streamlining of the selection process.

Bartomeu Escandell, who is head of the Council's “resident safety” department, heralded the news as “fabulous for those of us—and there are quite a few—eagerly awaiting additions to the force”. Escandell said the Council had already asked for authority to hire up to six new recruits, “so we've still got some lattitude if we decide to take on two more officers before the start of next season”.

Jaume Ferrer applauds efforts of Govern and community leaders to cap inbound vehicles

foto consell govern 2018 1This morning Formentera was the scene of a meeting of the Consell de Govern, or “Council of Government”, which ended in approval for a draft bill key to the island's environmental and economic stability.

After the gathering Formentera Council chief Jaume Ferrer hailed the Council of Government's decision to back legislation which, if it receives the go-ahead of the Balearic parliament, would regulate incoming vehicles on the island.

“Now political forces in the Parlament must debate the measure and decide what its entry in force will look like”, said Ferrer, who said he was confident the initiative would ultimately score definitive approval. “This law will give Formentera a say about how many vehicles can circulate on the island”, he said, and called the support already secured “very encouraging”, confiding: “What we've seen today is that the Balearic Islands support our initiative to retain control of our own land”.

At a gathering last year of the first ministers, or presidents, who represent the distinct islands in the Balearic archipelago, Ferrer said individual islands should have more clout when decision being made directly impact them specifically.

At a 2014 meeting of the Consell d'Entitats, a council of representatives from the local community, Formentera residents identified a preponderance of vehicles as a threat to the island's model of existence and the quality of life of its inhabitants.

Ferrer, who celebrated the fact that “today our two pleas have been heard simultaneously”, also thanked regional first minister Francina Armengol and the rest of Formentera's neighbours in the Balearics for the hand they played in the process.

Lastly, addressing the people of Formentera at large, Ferrer said “when the requests are fair, well-reasoned and people are willing to roll up their sleeves, work together and get their hands dirty, we get results”.

Sa Senieta

The Formentera chief sat down with Fanny Tur, the minister of culture, participation and sport in the Balearics, to sign an agreement whereby the Council, as the title holder of the property, grants the regional agency use rights for Sa Senieta at no charge. The Palma department pledges in turn to oversee restoration and upgrades to equip the facility with an exhibition space for the future Formentera museum.

Today's agreement was preceded by the Council of Government's green-lighting of €500,000 in financing for the building's purchase.

Formentera green-lights construction of assisted living residence and reforms on Sant Ferran street

foto ple extra setembre 2018When members of the Formentera Council congregated today for an extraordinary plenary session, the motions they opted to support included a contract to build the island's assisted living residence as well as a call for bids ahead of upgrades on a Sant Ferran road.

Future residence
Assembly members voted unanimously to adopt a measure from the senior cabinet to award a works contract for a live-in dependent care centre.

Infrastructure secretary Rafael González, who called the facility “fundamental for Formentera and islanders”, added it was “the crowning piece, along with the funeral home currently under construction, of the island's network of public health facilities”. González boasted the completed project would mean “a decent service with which to care for our elders”, and said it represented “more than just a quality of life improvement” but that “birth, life and death on Formentera” would at long last be possible.

Work on the nearly two-million euro buildout, which spans 1,169.17 square metres, will start this winter and has an estimated 16-month timeline. The project, essentially an expansion of the island's dependent care centre (known as the Centre de Dia), will create 14 additional single and two new double rooms, supporting a total of 18 people. The new structure will house a reception area, visitor services, a dining hall, living room and areas for nursing staff, medical exams and storage.

The Balearic Islands' social welfare ministry will cover 70% of costs while the Formentera Council will put up the remaining 30% in addition to the land on which construction takes place.

Avinguda Joan Castelló i Guasch upgrades
With support from Gent per Formentera representatives and abstention from PP, PSOE and Compromís party members, the day's gathering also brought approval for a  motion to put to tender upgrades on Sant Ferran's avinguda Joan Castelló i Guasch. The administration is also calling for bids to manage the reforms and oversee the project's progress.

“We'd like these upgrades to act as a coil-spring for the town of Sant Ferran. To make it a pleasant place to live and an easy one to get around on foot”, explained the infrastructure chief. González pointed to another aspiration as well: Revitalising local commerce. He noted the upgrades would “fulfil the same criteria” as last winter's work on carrers Guillem de Montgrí and València. At that time, crews “took out architectural barriers, widened the pavements and implemented metred parking”. The current upgrades, he said, will mark a continuation of the previous project and “put the same benefits within reach of the other townspeople”.

The reforms project on the avinguda (“avenue”) known as Joan Castelló i Guasch covers a range of pavement surface improvements,  the undergrounding of services like sanitation, drinking water, telephone, electricity and street lights. The proposal also covers expansion of pedestrian spaces and would mean eliminating architectural barriers and incorporating a dedicated bike lane along the entire road. Recharge points along the road are envisioned as well.

Engineers of the project, a continuation of the improvements on carrers Guillem de Montgrí and València, are hoping for the same “single surface fix” (i.e. uniform levelling of the pavement and road surface  heights) as the one used for the earlier revamp. The six-month deadline is intended to ensure completion in time for the 2019 tourist season. The €1,858,000 price tag includes execution and management of the works.

In the first half of October, the Council will convene a gathering of Sant Ferran residents in order to detail the proposed changes, similar to the process that preceded upgrades on carrers Guillem de Montgrí and València.

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