20 augustus 2014

Hondón de los Frailes: Points from a Meeting with the Mayor – August 2014

Points of the meeting with the Mayor in Frailes on Monday the 18th in the ayuntamiento .
The Meeting was attended by Sue Ashley, Geoff Salter, Philip Woolford Richard de Ste Croix and Victor.
As you all can see the Mayor spends a great deal of his time lobbying for the village.

The new water supply that is being brought in from the Taibilla Reservoir in Murcia as now fully funded (€2.8M) and is going ahead with an expected completion date at the end of 2015.The pipe to bring the new water supply into the village will inevitably need to cross the land of some people and all those directly concerned are being sent letters explaining what needs to happen. The first letters have been delivered, and are of course in Spanish, and the rest will arrive shortly. If you don’t understand a letter that you receive Victor is prepared to explain it to you. There will be a meeting in October to discuss the plans. If you don’t own land then you will not be affected. Any queries to Victor please.

The long standing problems with the water supply in Camino Colorado are to be addressed by replacing the water pipe. (€85K) It is anticipated that the work will be done next year, but no timescale is set yet.

The water distribution pipes on Caminos Castilla, Los Serranos and Del Roig, also on Ramal del Alcantarillado and at the Cultural Centre are to be replaced with larger bore pipes (€60K) and it is hoped to complete the work before Christmas.

Work will also be undertaken to enlarge the Picnic Area and to fill some potholes in the town centre.

The potholes in Caminos Mojica, Casas Alto, Colorado, Davóns and Cañada las Matas are to be repaired soon. (Before the year end?

Funding has been obtained to surface two presently unsurfaced roads in Casas Galianas.

From about the 5th September work will begin on replacing water and sewage pipes in the road between the Church and the Music Rooms. Once completed the streets will be resurface with blocks, similar to some side streets done previously. This work will then carry on next year along other roads it that part of town including the road from the School and past the Polivalente. (€300K)

The Church Tower is in urgent need of repair, it is tilting, and €55K has been granted for this repair to the historic building.

The Diputacíon de Alicante will pay for the lights for this year’s Fiesta and 50% of the cost of the musical entertainment on the Saturday night. This entertainment is reputed to be very good.

The Theatre budget is still short of €29K and this money has been requested from the government. If it is forthcoming the Theatre will be completed and opened. If it is not forthcoming the Theatre will be opened before the year end anyway and will have to operate without some necessary equipment.

Money has been requested to change the public street lighting in the village to LED and it is anticipated that this will reduce consumption by 40% and so recover the installation cost in 7 years.

Money for refurbishment of the Medical Centre was declined in the previous funding round, but has been applied for again and the Director of the Vinalopo Hospital is pushing for this to be allocated.

The preparation of the new Plan General is going ahead and funds have been identified that can be disbursed in three tranches. It is hoped that appropriate consultations can be carried out at an early stage in the development of the plan so as to minimise the cost of any changes that are agreed.

Overall, and despite the financial crisis, our village has been allocate over €3M, but this has not fallen from the sky, it has been granted in response to requests made on our behalf by the Town Hall.