ESG Radio Newsletter

Key words- Summer temps/floral explosion/pollution rise/shipping activity and protocols/ Litter and civic pride- CUTW / New ESG Objectives List coming soon

Hello there- The summer season has finally arrived and with it major outdoor activity and increased littering, wonderful tree blossom and also amplification of pollution in raised temperatures and calmer wind scenarios.

We can solve some of our problems, but there are some we cannot tackle ourselves. Using public transport/ disposing of rubbish responsibly/ using less packaging at point of purchase/ encouraging others to do the same; all these actions help. In our annual Clean Up awareness campaign we aim to highlight positive actions and progress as well as actions needed by Govt, businesses and industry for all to play their part in looking after our environment. Our volunteer teams will help clean up nature, coastal and underwater sites as tackled every year.

Date for this year is 29^th September. Campaign will kick off with a March up Main Street as from 11am. and related activity will follow at the John Mackintosh Square for a few hours. Hope you can join us on the day! Plse register by emailing esg@gibtelecom.net as teams are now signing up.

As an extremely busy Mediterranean Port, Gibraltar’s shipping activity is significant. Despite following strict Codes of Practice monitored by the Port and Maritime Agency, the volume and proximity of the ships mean that pollution will affect us on an on-going basis. There are always some vessels that break the rules and these should be reported – not necessarily via FB, but direct to the Port or Dept. of Environment. Examples could be endless smoke emissions from nearby vessels, which clearly are not circumstances of mere start up of engines.

Contact us for information on how to make such reports. Another factor is that Gibraltar needs to apply more stringent controls than are required whether by the EU or International conventions – simply because of the proximity of berthing and shipping activity to residential areas. The ESG is following up on all these issues with the authorities as well as seeking provision of onshore electricity connection throughout the Port area.

Since 2003 the ESG has set out its “Shopping Cart” of Objectives for Gibraltar and the regional environment and we try and update this as frequently as possible.

Our 2017 List is now being reviewed and will be available online soon. We know from feedback from the community that this resource is very useful to people interested in finding out more about the issues on the ground including students both here and abroad. The 2018 paper will be available online at www.esg-gib.net with issues covered such as : Climate Change, Energy, Waste, Sewage, Pollution, Transport, Cross Border Issues, Govt Environmental Management Plan and many more.

Thank you for listening..!

ESG Radio Newsletter 17^th May 2018

Key words:  CUTW 2018 update      World Environment Day     Bathing Water Data     DPC    Wildflowers       Various Projects           

Since our last newsletter the ESG has been busy pushing forward with its usual focus on local and regional environmental issues, works at our new premises, and setting up all provision for the Clean up Event in September. This last project is set to change this year with our Zero Waste target to reduce the amount of single use plastic we actually use when clearing up litter in the natural environment. Progress is being made and we are getting great support from the community at every level and are confident we can achieve this target.

The date for our awareness parade and clean up event is the 29^th September. This will be our 14^th year running – we already have volunteers signing up and we invite you to contact us to register at: esg@gibtelecom.net. Long-term partners will be contacted before the end of May and planning sessions for July and August will be published soon.

World Environment Day is coming up on the 5^th June at the Commonwealth Park. This event is organised by the Dept. of Environment and involves many local NGOs and schools. With our schools developing their own, and growing, year round environmental programmes, the 5^th June will no doubt be a great event reflecting this successful effort. The ESG will be supporting World Environment Day with our own stall aimed at sharing our interests and promoting our group’s key messages. Hope you will find time to pop round on the 5^th – it is being run the whole day, from 9.30am to 3.30pm.

With the weather picking up more and more of us are heading to our shores to cool down and a timely reminder therefore to check the bathing water monitoring site where you can find data on past and current water quality at your beach of choice. While in the main most Gibraltar beaches are in good health, the one that has been highly problematic for the past 8 years has been Western Beach and records show that during 2018 winter months, and rainfall conditions, sewage contamination persists. Therefore it is useful to check available data and also to avoid the area during any rainfall. No final solution has yet been achieved despite NGO and Govt action and indeed EU legal action proceedings started against Spain on this. The ESG hopes that with the progress on cross border business cooperation currently underway due to Brexit matters that this issue will be also given necessary attention.

For bathing water data simply search for: environmental-agency.gi, go to monitoring and click on bathing water.

DPC – that’s the Development and Planning Commission- meet for their monthly session on the 23^rd May as from 9.30am at the John Mackintosh Hall, Charles Hunt Room. These meetings are open to the public and you can find the agenda on the DPC Town Planning Website.

It continues to be a walker and birders season at present with an explosion of wildflowers everywhere and birds gracing our skies. The heavy and persistent rains have transformed many of our nature spots to tropical and vibrant conditions – life is truly abuzz! right now, very special indeed. Get out there if you can- Upper Rock, Europa Foreshore, Botanic Gardens and our coastline are just some examples.

We continue to follow and monitor progress on the upcoming Waste Plant, Sewage Treatment Plant, LNG Power Station, New Cleaning Contract and others. We also remain vigilant on heavy pollution incidences and act on reports received etc.

Please visit our own website at esg-gib.net where we post all Radio Newsletters and Press Statements for more information and for our comprehensive List of Objectives which sets out our views on Gibraltar’s environmental challenges. Thanks for listening.

ESG Radio Newsletter 

Key words:  Clean up the World  Presentations    Climate Change and Storms     2nd Power Station visit     Sewage Contract    Idling     DPC

 Clean up the World has now seen 13 years of campaigning for a cleaner, litter free Gibraltar. Engaging the public, on a community wide basis, has been central to its continued success in helping achieve real change on the ground over time. We are still surprised to come across people who have not heard about the campaign so a quick reminder here:

Every year we see several schools, clubs and associations, businesses, agencies and many individuals take part in clearing rubbish from nature hotspots throughout Gibraltar. The widespread effort helps to highlight the issues and impacts of social littering, industrial waste and fly tipping in open spaces in Gibraltar. It brings the issues alive to those who take part and makes a strong case for civic pride and how we are each responsible for looking after our homeland.

This hands-on action has motivated others in the community to launch parallel initiatives, which are gathering pace today. This issue of ever growing waste and litter is a modern world problem, not just ours, but, like many other busy, urbanised communities, we also need to get a grip on our waste issues and improve our record in protecting our natural environment. There are some European countries achieving incredible results on waste management so it clearly can be done.

The date for this years Clean up has not yet been finalised but will take place in September. Final details will be provided soon. As Gibraltar has grown and changed over the years so too are it’s cleaning and maintenance needs and we therefore hope to see the awarding of the new cleaning contract issued as soon as possible.

Our work is not confined to the clean up weekend though with on-going clean ups, certificate ceremonies, talks and presentations going on since the start of the year. Watch out for more details to be released in the media soon.

Moving on to other issues – the recent gale force winds remind us of our place in the world and how very fortunate we are to live in relative safety and comfort for much of the time. Not so for other parts of the world where flooding, severe artic conditions and general mayhem are now generally accepted to be occurring with greater frequency. All points to the need for communities everywhere to address climate change and green up their economies, services and activities and we in Gibraltar, small though we are, are reminded of this responsibility too, especially as we lick our wounds and carry out what are thankfully minor repairs to damages sustained in recent weeks.

The ESG took up the opportunity of visiting the new Power Station and LNG site recently as more of the infrastructure is in place and real-time monitoring equipment beginning to arrive. It was a most interesting 2 hour visit where the group welcomed being able to ask many questions from the project leaders and would like to thank the Minister for the Environment for making this possible. We continue to monitor and closely follow the projects progress and will be releasing a press release on this latest visit this week.

The issuing of the Sewage Contract is welcomed by the group who has campaigned for this for many years. We also welcome posters going up in bus stops reminding drivers not to idle their engines unnecessarily.

The Next DPC session is on Tuesday the 20^th February and you will be able to obtain details for that agenda a week beforehand on the Town Planning website.

Go to: www.esg-gib.net for details on all our newsletters and press releases. Contact us at esg@gibtelecom.net if you want more information. Thanks for listening.

ESG Radio Newsletter 141217

Key words:  ESG issues  New premises   Transport Issues     Renewable Energy Progress  Town & Heritage Acts   Pace of Development on the Rock

Looking ahead to 2018 the ESG will continue pursuing its aims for a safer and healthier Gibraltar by focusing on all its core objectives set out and available for anyone interested to access on our website, that’s esg-gib.net. Our target areas include: climate change and local actions to address this, pollution from all sources, energy generation, particularly renewable energy, traffic and transport issues, cross border impacts, sewage treatment and infrastructure, development and sustainable planning, port impacts, waste treatment-recycling and litter, tourism and beaches, conservation and the updating of the Environmental Action and Management Plan.

Yes, it’s a lot of issues but then, the environment includes everything and we are all affected by these too. We believe that our promotion of these issues over the years has raised a lot of awareness among the community as can be increasingly seen during our many recent talks and presentations and by the quality of debates and discussions generally out there.

Our new home at Wellington Front is starting to take shape and we are confident of developing some exciting ideas in the first quarter of 2018 to engage interested parties in a number of environmental projects. We have faced quite a lot of costs in the move and appeal now for donations, big or small, all welcomed – please get in touch if you would like to help us out with this – email esg@gibtelecom.net. Thanks to those of you who have already stepped forward to help with this.

The ESG met with the Minister for Transport very recently to raise concerns which are mostly contained within the Sustainable Traffic and Transport Plan. This is a key issue for many people and we invite you to go to our news section on our website for more details on that meeting.

A lengthy meeting also took place with the Minister for the Environment to review key issues on sewage, shipping pollution, development, progress on the new power station and a lot more. The ESG will continue to table these issues to ensure they remain high on the agenda for change. It was very positive to hear about legislative changes to allow individuals to feed back excess energy from renewable sources to the grid. This, along with a move to wider use nationally of renewable energy, has been an important objective for us and we must congratulate the Minister for getting this done. We now want to see protocols, information, guidelines and recommendations provided so the public can take the next step. We also hope that financial assistance packages and incentives will be expanded to incentivise people further.

There have been a number of positive announcements recently that will help our environment. We hope to see many more including the publication of the new Town and Heritage Acts particularly when planning and development is scheduled to come under immense pressure from the multiple construction projects announced. The ESG has its own views about the rate and pace of development and the need to complete so many projects at the same time. We shall continue to express and communicate these going forward into the new year hoping that necessary regard will be given to important vistas, open spaces, light and need for greenery between so much concrete development.

On that note, the last 2017 DPC meeting take place tomorrow morning at the John Mackintosh Hall and it promises to be interesting one if you have the chance to attend. Mtg starts at 9.30am.

So Happy Christmas ! Be mindful of the environment during the coming weeks and also spare a thought for those less fortunate.

Congratulations also to GBC for another successful Open Day event too.

See you in 2018!

Radio news broadcast 9th November on Radio Gibraltar

Key words:     Public debate –    ESG Objectives –    New Power Station and LNG –     Maritime Pollution Transport  –    Construction –    New waste plant –   Sewage Treatment –     Seven Sisters Clean up coming up!

Hi there  – We would like to provide an update on matters of local environmental issues which we know matter to many. Indeed this week saw a public debate led by an MP on environmental issues.

Our aims and concerns as a grassroots environmental NGO can be found on our website at esg-gib.net – under objectives, and an easy read of all local and regional environmental issues. We have been lobbying for these since the year 2000 and have called for cross party consensus for environmental action and policy and will continue to work for these objectives.

Turning to the new power station and LNG plant- new equipment has arrived which includes real-time monitoring systems and we look forward to being able to see these first-hand soon. This measure was a critical factor that gave us some peace of mind knowing that emissions will be transparently monitored with information fed publicly via an online system, much as the existing air monitoring data is at present. More news on this soon.

We also are working on issues of maritime pollution by following up with the relevant authorities on measures we would like to see in place that will help reduce pollution levels and impacts. This is vitally important to see achieved before the next wave of hot weather is upon us.

 Transport issue is a big concern for everyone including the ESG and we are also following up on this with mtgs with policy makers to present our issues directly and press for the aims set out in the Sustainable Transport and Traffic Plan.

Construction works and new developments are also being widely felt today and a concern to many. We call for the new Town Act to be published without further delay and for more details to be provided by Government on major developments as well as on their vision for the rest of our homeland.

 As we continue to grow, our basic services must be completed, such as our sewage treatment plant, new power station that will allow feed in from micro renewable energy systems and the new Waste Park, that will manage all our waste to high stds locally and maximise recycling. We continue to monitor these.

 These projects, coupled with a bold transport plan to clear our streets, manage traffic and improve air quality, will take us into a better environmental space. Clearly where and how we develop Gibraltar’s remaining open spaces should be a matter for the whole community and this is under considerable pressure at present and is worthy of greater scrutiny and debate.

Food for thought indeed.

This weekend will see our volunteers in action once again removing harmful plastics from a beautiful coastal site known as Seven Sisters that wasn’t tackled at our last clean up. Hope you continue to think plastics too and reduce your own use as much as possible and do your bit on this growing environmental threat.

Thanks for listening!

ESG Radio Newsletter 13^th April 2017   There have been a few developments in some of our key campaigns we would like to share with you today.

You may have heard us talk about our new Wish List in the past, recently renamed as our List of Objectives. We have now finalised our 2017 paper and will be presenting this to Ministers and Opposition MPs in the coming weeks. The document will also be published on our website shortly.

We have just received confirmation directly from the European Commission that infringement proceedings against Spain, on the breaking of EU law in respect of illegal sewage discharge at various points around the Bay, including from La Linea into Western Beach waters, have now started against the Spanish Authorities.

It appears that after 7 years of campaigning and lobbying, of calling upon our MEPs to place pressure in Brussels, and more recently of action taken by the Gibraltar Government, we are finally starting to close the circle and see decisive action from the Commission.

Still, during these long campaigns, and in the last year or so, the combined pressure has resulted in a reduction in the volume of sewage discharged into Western beach waters and this is a positive outcome for sure. Pollution levels are still of concern though and relatively consistent meaning that further work must be done to eliminate this altogether. Visit environmental agency.gi, go to monitoring, and then click on bathing water for details on the state of waters at all beaches for more information.

It’s important that the health of Western Beach waters is restored to its pre 2010 conditions and we shall continue to fight for this final outcome. We are in touch with our legal advisers, co-petitioners, and the Gibraltar office in Brussels and are currently preparing a follow up to this latest official response. We shall also contact our MEPs for assistance. The commission have also informed us of advanced plans to take action against the UK on Gibraltar’s lack of sewage treatment facility, which we sincerely hope will be addressed and actioned during 2017.

The big news this week is the launch of the STTP, or the Sustainable Traffic and Transport Plan. It’s a comprehensive set of documents that require time to appraise its contents and the ESG is in the process of doing just that. Committee members met with Minister Balban and Cortes and staff in the run up to the launch and placed several questions and concerns, which were discussed at some length at the meeting. The issue for us now is to establish how well the new plan addresses key ESG concerns and where we shall need to continue to direct our efforts. We recognise and welcome the hard work carried out by Minister Balban and all supporting staff to finalise this very important plan that aims to calm Gibraltar’s streets and help reduce air and noise pollution.

We shall shortly be releasing a statement on best available technology and the new Power station as we have held a number of meetings with Govt technical advisers and exchanged correspondence, and as many know, is an issue we have been very vocal on. An update will be published soon.

We also want to confirm that Clean up the World Campaign will this year take place on Saturday 23^rd September. With plans for workshops and preparations for an awareness parade soon to get underway look out for details on our website and in the local press. Last week saw a few volunteers from the ESG and the Gibraltar Heritage Trust together clear a beautiful green area, smothered in plastic and take away waste, where we filled close to 30 sacks in just under 2 hours! Our litter problems in nature spots continue -especially in certain hotspots – and the need for our Clean up, and awareness of these issues, as important as ever. Please help and get involved. Email to volunteer at: esg@gibtelecom.net. Check out our website for more news at esg-gib.net.

Thanks for listening!

ESG Radio Newsletter 30^th March 2017

So many major news stories making headlines these days it is hard to keep up with everything. We have been busy issuing our own statements on sewage issues and the new plant so needed for Gibraltar. We have also come out strongly in response to claims by La Junta that they intend to rein in emissions from the large chemical plants located in the Campo area. The one main point we would like to highlight here is that emission levels can only be accurately measured if carried out independently of industry, and ideally via real-time stack monitoring managed by external operators. So we are sure that NGOs from both sides of the border will regard this tightening of controls by La Junta somewhat sceptically until such time as the data gathering is run transparently and free from industry control.

With the exit from European membership all but sealed we focus on ensuring that our environmental standards will continue. We hope to meet with the GONHS and Ministry for the Environment as soon as possible to continue discussions on the way forward in this respect and in our different areas of work. It was interesting to meet the UK Under Secretary of State for exiting the European Union, Mr Robin Walker, recently in Gibraltar on a fact finding mission to hear concerns from different sectors of the community. The ESG made clear that our cross border health and environmental problems can only be addressed directly with the EC given the issues are transboundary and cannot be tackled by any single member state. Mr Walker suggested there could be other tools available to us in Europe post Brexit and we agreed to follow this up.

The ESG has finalised its updated “2017 List of Objectives”. A very comprehensive document covering 15 key areas from Climate Change to Recycling, Pollution to Planning and much more. The document studies environmental issues and makes recommendations for their resolution. We shall be submitting copies directly to Government and opposition political parties and will also be placing a copy on our website alongside previous and earlier versions. Naturally many of these issues are dynamic and we shall strive to keep our document as up to date as possible.

Finishing on a global note, it can’t have escaped many of you that the USA is set to enter a very dark period on the environment if current threats and promises are followed through. This relates to the revoking of controls on coal extraction, radically reducing the powers of the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as weakening the US position and support for collective action on climate change. We recall the Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth moment when urging the world to take action on this crucial issue, also then his own country’s harshest critic in terms of being one of the worst offenders. Things changed under Obama and it helped achieve universal solidarity with other global leaders finally getting to a point where we could start believing that real action was possible. Could Trump really reverse this major milestone for humanity?

There is much dissent and outrage in the US itself on this – lets hope that, along with other Trump recent pledges that have failed, that this backward and chillingly frightening reversing of environmental gains will also fail. For more information on issues we follow more locally please visit our news page on esg-gib.net or contact us at esg@gibtelecom.net. Thanks for listening.

This week’s newsletter should lead with an update on the on-going work we have recently undertaken against the shocking levels of pollution affecting the Bay area caused by the CEPSA Oil Refinery particularly on 29th January. This is not a new issue for the ESG – it being one of the key or core campaigns we embarked on soon after we formed in the early 2000’s. We have therefore built up a considerable case of technical and campaign data on this industrial facility that has formed the basis for numerous complaints sent to Brussels, directly, with the assistance of the international law firm Hassan’s, and with the support of MEPs, from 2006 onwards.

Pollution emissions at this plant have improved to what they were, say, five years ago and much can be attributed to the persistent campaigning by NGOs on both sides of the border. It is surprising to us that many seem unaware of the efforts made by Spanish groups in fighting for environmental issues in the Bay and surrounding area. They certainly do and visits to either the Agaden or Verdemar Facebook page or websites will easily inform on the sustained campaigning carried out by them.

Indeed the latest round of heavy pollution has seen us take immediate steps in lodging a detailed and evidence based complaint with the appropriate directorate in Brussels, and has also seen the Spanish NGO Verdemar, now organising a protest to take place in Algeciras on the 28^th February. They will be calling upon their Spanish authorities to better enforce environmental and safety regulations at industries like CEPSA, citing spikes in polluting incidences recently by CEPSA and Acerinox and raising concerns about the impacts these will be having on the health of local populations residing close to the industries as well as throughout the Bay.

Verdemar has circulated a poster which advises that the march will start at 12.00 midday from Salida Parque M^a Cristina and will end at the subdelegacion del gobierno where demands for greater enforcement of environmental regulations will be made by the protesters.

The ESG would like to take this chance to welcome the fact that the Gibraltar Government has felt able, on this occasion to take the unprecedented step of also lodging a formal complaint with Brussels, in fact supported by the whole of the Gibraltar Parliament– we commend their action and hope it helps achieves the desired outcome of continued improvement at the refinery and acceleration in the implementation of the 2008 audit. We await a response from the European Commission and are monitoring the situation very closely.

Another area of interest and concern to the ESG is bathing water quality in Gibraltar, in particular with reference to Western Beach, since 2010. A diversion of a dodgy storm drain led to untold levels of sewage contamination affect this popular beach followed by complaints, protests etc. You can see the consistent pattern of pollution displayed very clearly on the newly launched Environmental Agency website. Historic and current data is there and provides environmentalists, students and anyone wanting to check the health of our waters before swimming with a clear and easy to use resource. Visit environmental agency gi for more info.

Watch out for the next DPC meeting – that’s the development and planning commission meeting publicly on the 22^nd February. There may be a number of significant proposals coming up, details of which can be found at egov.gi under Town Planning. Please contact us for more info on anything you have heard today: Email at esg@gibtelecom.net. Thanks for listening.

 ESG Radio Newsletter 27^th October 2016

 Brexit is dominating our lives in ways that few issues have done before and worryingly creating further and frustrating delays in all spheres of society. It also raises questions on how we can ensure environmental standards are protected and adhered to going forward.

Locally we are concerned that the progress made in recent years on projects such as the new sewage treatment plant will not be blown off course because of Brexit. Another major area is our renewable energy programme, and the need for investment and political will to convert to reality all research undertaken so far by Govt.

Earlier this month we met with the Minister for the Environment and his team together with the GONHS, to review the potential Brexit impacts on the environment. It is an important platform for us, as NGOs, and the Ministry dedicated to the protection of the environment, to share and hold such discussions, and bring to the table, the critical areas of concern that are under threat by an EU exit from each party’s perspective.

We hope to be able to contribute to these discussions in areas of local pollution and health, but particularly in the case of the major chemical plants and Oil Refinery in the bay. This where the ESG, supported by Hassan’s Law firm and various MEPs, has sought redress from the EU on environmental breaches for the past 14 years! It is now going to be an even harder challenge, of that there is no doubt.

Revisiting the Clean up for a moment – just to advise all volunteers that photographs depicting your great efforts over the clean up weekend can be found on our website, available via the Flickr link on the home page that we shall mention at the end of this broadcast. Also you will all be contacted soon as certificates of participation are being drawn up and will be handed out at a special ceremony. A report on the Clean Up, its success and on-going issues will be completed soon and also submitted to authorities and posted on our website. This will include un-tackled areas, bins and more.

OK, moving on to a few more topics – construction of new developments can cause abject misery to those most affected, and actual medical symptoms in a few. There are regulations in place to ensure that these sites are managed rigorously and dust controlled to a minimum, and failure to do this must be reported either to site manager/details should be posted at site hoarding, OR to the Environmental Agency at 200-70620 if there is no info at site. Please do follow up and do not suffer in silence.

We have also attended a meeting this week that looked at issues of quayside pollution and onshore power connection that we hope to see regulated in Gibraltar soon. This could remove air and noise pollution currently affecting frontline residents and we shall continue to press for these facilities to be set up.

Please follow our issues and work by clicking on our website – our Wish List – Core Aims, is posted right on the home page at esg-gib.net and outlines all the areas we follow. You can email us for more information at esg@gibtelecom.net

ESG Radio Broadcast 25^th August 2016

With Clean up the World 2016 a month away today preparations of equipment and other important materials are now underway. We are now consolidating teams and sites and urge anyone interested to please get in touch soon. Preferably by email to: esg@gibtelecom.net. We shall be holding an awareness event in town on the 20^th just before the Clean up where we hope to share information and raise the profile of Clean up issues. This will be our twelfth campaign in Gibraltar as part of a global movement that inspires grassroots action to help local environments everywhere. With the core theme being: Our Place, Our Planet, Our Responsibility, we believe this campaign is as relevant today as when we first started, and call upon the community to lend its support as it has done in past years. The clean up itself will be held on the 24^th September and volunteers and team leaders will be expected to attend the main planning meeting in early September.

The issue of LNG has been in the news again. Those who follow our work will know we have been closely monitoring this project and have given our views publicly at each and every stage. We have held recent meetings with GibElec regarding on-going works at the new Power Station site, interested in ensuring that the measures we called for last year, for Best Available Technology to be applied, will be seen through. These relate to electrostatic precipitators, stack monitoring, and adequate assessment of diesel use to encompass a wider time period than envisaged in the present studies. Basically to limit pollution affecting residential areas closest to the plant. Separately we are also keen to see the COMAH assessment and contingency plans on the LNG storage and its operational use; this remains pending.

The Chief Ministers interview this week regarding LNG bunkering and any possible use of the North Mole terminal in this regard has not featured in any discussion/assessment or exhibition held to date that we have been a part of. Indeed we have had assurances that the east side would be the area to be used for LNG bunkering, and even then, after careful assessments. We are taking this up once again with Government.

In the past few weeks Western Beach has been in the news and much-debated on social media. The key focus has been on the extraordinary and mountainous volumes of seaweed amassing on the shores of this beach. It has failed to make the news, however, on the levels of sewage contamination, which has rightfully caused red flags to fly on a number of occasions, and continues to this day.

While past summers have seen a reprieve during the bathing season from dumping of very high volumes of sewage at Western Beach waters from La Lineas’ infamous storm drain, which occurs all year round, and since 2010, this time we are in the middle of a bathing season, and we are clocking up exceptionally high levels of E Coli and intestinal enterococci microorganisms, both from faecal matter, which pose a grave threat to public health.

We would like to draw attention to this current polluting activity which can be seen on the Environmental Agency’s website and should, in our view, result in beach closure if this is not eliminated.

Finally, the DPC meets next week on the 31^st August at 9.30am at the John Mackintosh Hall. The agenda is up on the egov.gi site and contains a number of interesting applications that will be discussed. Remember these meetings are held publicly at the Charles Hunt Room.

Thanks for listening!