Last Thursday 20th February an informal meeting was held in Ayamonte town hall between the Mayor of Ayamonte Antonio Rodriguez Castillo and a number of residents on Costa Esuri. The main point of discussion to find out how and when the monies attained from bank guarantees would be used and who would govern how these monies would be used.
The Mayor first wanted to clarify exactly what monies had been attained from the bank guarantees. Four million euros are already being held in a bank account for use solely on the Costa Esuri urbanisation.
A further 1.7 million euros is being claimed on a bank guarantee held with Novacaixa Galicia. This bank is slow in releasing the monies and the Mayor also stated that although they have been actively demanding the money from Novacaixa Galicia for some time they have taken a more serious legal stance (judicial action) with the bank in the last 15-20 days.
One of the key points raised from the meeting was to find out when works would begin on repair of roads etc on Costa Esuri and if the residents would have any say on how this money would be spent.
The Mayor explained that the timeframe was dependant on when they could get the last outstanding monies from Novacaixa Galicia as all repair works would be tendered together. As for who decides what the monies would be spent on, the Mayor clarified that it would not be the EUC or resident but competence of the Ayamonte Town Hall Technical Department on how monies would be spent. Ayamonte Town Hall Technical department have already written up a report on what repairs will be done.
There were a number of other questions fielded from the people present, myself included and to ensure most was understood, Amparo Lalinde acted at the translator for the non-Spanish people present while Philip Johnson acted as spokesperson.
Below are some of the questions fielded by people present at the meeting and answers. A full report on the meeting is being complied in both Spanish and English and will be sent out to the various resident communities on Costa Esuri in the coming days.
• The safety of the fencing around the hotel and commercial centre was questioned as was the cranes which have been stationary for a number of years. Asked if some of the monies could be used to resolve this problem, the Mayor again clarified that all of the monies which have been attained for Costa Esuri via bank guarantees would go on infrastructures and could not be used for this purpose as it is a private plot. He did say that he would check into the licences to see if there was retention on the promoter of these plots that could be used to remedy the situation.
• The problem of sporadic delivery of post on some parts of Costa Esuri. The Mayor said he would speak to Correo about it but urged any residents who are having delivery with post to report it to the Postmaster in Ayamonte.
• Access to landline broadband on the whole of Costa Esuri. The Mayor admitted that there was enormous difficultly in speaking to the relevant parties and has had the same problem for years in Punta de Moral. Miguel Paredes one of the Spanish residents present at the meeting offered to mediate on the matter.
• Cement trucks driving within the urbanisation. The Mayor said there was already a dedicated route and timetable that heavy vehicles were obliged to use when entering Costa Esuri and urged any resident who saw inappropriate use to call the local police and report the matter.
• A bus service. The Mayor said that the current contracts for bus routes in the Ayamonte area still have approximately 12 months to run and that after that period a route from Esuri to Ayamonte could be looked at.
• Possibility of opening up a direct line of communication with the Town Hall. The Mayor said that he regarded Ayamonte as another neighbourhood of Ayamonte and both Philip’s and Amparo’s e-mail addresses were given to the Mayor for future communications.
The Mayor first wanted to clarify exactly what monies had been attained from the bank guarantees. Four million euros are already being held in a bank account for use solely on the Costa Esuri urbanisation.
A further 1.7 million euros is being claimed on a bank guarantee held with Novacaixa Galicia. This bank is slow in releasing the monies and the Mayor also stated that although they have been actively demanding the money from Novacaixa Galicia for some time they have taken a more serious legal stance (judicial action) with the bank in the last 15-20 days.
One of the key points raised from the meeting was to find out when works would begin on repair of roads etc on Costa Esuri and if the residents would have any say on how this money would be spent.
The Mayor explained that the timeframe was dependant on when they could get the last outstanding monies from Novacaixa Galicia as all repair works would be tendered together. As for who decides what the monies would be spent on, the Mayor clarified that it would not be the EUC or resident but competence of the Ayamonte Town Hall Technical Department on how monies would be spent. Ayamonte Town Hall Technical department have already written up a report on what repairs will be done.
There were a number of other questions fielded from the people present, myself included and to ensure most was understood, Amparo Lalinde acted at the translator for the non-Spanish people present while Philip Johnson acted as spokesperson.
Below are some of the questions fielded by people present at the meeting and answers. A full report on the meeting is being complied in both Spanish and English and will be sent out to the various resident communities on Costa Esuri in the coming days.
• The safety of the fencing around the hotel and commercial centre was questioned as was the cranes which have been stationary for a number of years. Asked if some of the monies could be used to resolve this problem, the Mayor again clarified that all of the monies which have been attained for Costa Esuri via bank guarantees would go on infrastructures and could not be used for this purpose as it is a private plot. He did say that he would check into the licences to see if there was retention on the promoter of these plots that could be used to remedy the situation.
• The problem of sporadic delivery of post on some parts of Costa Esuri. The Mayor said he would speak to Correo about it but urged any residents who are having delivery with post to report it to the Postmaster in Ayamonte.
• Access to landline broadband on the whole of Costa Esuri. The Mayor admitted that there was enormous difficultly in speaking to the relevant parties and has had the same problem for years in Punta de Moral. Miguel Paredes one of the Spanish residents present at the meeting offered to mediate on the matter.
• Cement trucks driving within the urbanisation. The Mayor said there was already a dedicated route and timetable that heavy vehicles were obliged to use when entering Costa Esuri and urged any resident who saw inappropriate use to call the local police and report the matter.
• A bus service. The Mayor said that the current contracts for bus routes in the Ayamonte area still have approximately 12 months to run and that after that period a route from Esuri to Ayamonte could be looked at.
• Possibility of opening up a direct line of communication with the Town Hall. The Mayor said that he regarded Ayamonte as another neighbourhood of Ayamonte and both Philip’s and Amparo’s e-mail addresses were given to the Mayor for future communications.