Keywords:
Civic Pride – Clean up the World – Grand Parade Car Park – Brexit –
ESG List of Objectives – DPC
We start this weeks newsletter by celebrating the recent display of civic pride by our nigh on 400 volunteers who gave time and energy during the CUTW campaign to free up multiple green areas and coastal sites from litter. Once again the community pulled together and achieved great results.
As organisers we thank everyone who helped make this happen. Workshops, talks and presentations are planned for the autumn months and more details will be released very shortly.
The Clean up is always a mixed experience for our volunteers who derive a sense of fulfilment from the team work and positive impact they have had on any one site; but who are also shocked to see how so many of our beautiful and quiet green areas and seafronts are misused and trashed. As organisers we are hopeful that change is imminent with these areas included under the new contract. But we also believe more needs to be done to encourage persistent litterers to change their behaviour, in whatever way is necessary, and we shall continue to place efforts in this regard also.
Moving on to other matters the ESG recently issued a press release drawing attention to the Government project proposal to develop Grand Parade into a multi-storey car park. We believe alternatives must be found to retain the open area and hope that Government will reconsider its plans. Please visit our website esg-gib.net for our full release on this and on others you may find of interest.
With regards to Brexit we hope to meet with the Brexit NGO environmental forum shortly to review all our concerns to ensure that the Gibraltar Government takes these forward when it attends talks with the Brexit team in the UK. For the ESG our continued ability to be able to bring pressure on major polluters such as the CEPSA Oil Refinery with its cross border impact and to apply environmental standards is crucial and we shall continue to follow these matters closely.
A reminder to all that you can find an overview on all the various environmental areas we study as a local NGO by again, visiting our website, on the home page and clicking on List of Objectives. This is a summary and so does not include all the data and detail contained in earlier versions. Nevertheless it does highlight the broad nature of our work and approach and the extensive experience we have gained from researching and taking all forms of action on these issues over the years.
The Development and Planning Commission is very busy at present and is currently meeting twice monthly as compared to its usual monthly sessions. This month the dates of note are the 18th and 31st of October. Remember these are public sessions starting at 9.30am and all are welcome. You can find the agenda for the mtgs a week before the session online on the Town Planning, DPC page.
Thanks for listening and please get in touch if you want any further information. Members will be contacted soon to renew subscriptions and receive updates on the groups 2017-18 mission.