Minutes of Committee meeting – 8th September 2019

Committee member	Position	Representative	Present(P)/Apologies(A)
Louise Kirkley	President	M18/M19	P
Angie Dickinson	Vice-president	M1A	P
Peter Bayliss	Membership Secretary	M2	P
Paul Elvey	Treasurer	M9	P
Gill Parker	Secretary		P
Jim Wilford		M1B	A
John Bishop		M1C	A
Pete Whitbread		M3	P
Anne Williams		M4	P
Patrick Price		M5	P
Steve Hartney		M8	A
Andy Robson		M10	A
Kathy Thompson		M12A	A
Maria del Valle Arroyo		M13	P
Ian Rogers		M14/M15	A
Sigmund Bang		M16	A
David Cox		M20/M21	P
David Endeacot		M24	P
Paul Trunchion		M6	P
John Byford		M12B	P
No representation		M7/M11

Minutes of previous meeting

Correction Ian Rogers and Andrew Robson were present at the previous meeting.

Site Adoption

Louise has now met the new mayor. He had not received the letter she sent, but she now has his personal e mail. She has asked for a meeting which will hopefully take place next week.

Louise did ask about whose responsibility it would be should someone injure themselves on the wooden steps. She was told it was not the council’s responsibility as the urbanisation is not adopted yet therefore responsibility would lie with the individual.

We have received more stick-on signs to tackle the dog fouling problem, but Louise will pursue getting more permanent signs particularly for the dog park and olive trees.

There is still no response to our enquiries about the billboard we are awaiting the architect.

We have made enquiries about who’s responsible for the broken play equipment, but there has been no update yet.

Louise asked about the impending court case however the mayor did not know if it is coming up in September or not.

A concern was noted that should the steps become really bad they may be barricaded off and for some houses the steps are their only access.

Overall Louise felt the meeting was helpful and that the mayor wants to help..

Update by Pete Whitbread

Report from Peter Whitbread  6 Sep 2019

Urbanisation weed killing & Noticeboard

Today I went to the Town Hall to introduce myself to Tony Signes as my understanding is that he will be my contact now with matters concerning the subject issues. I found him extremely receptive to our needs and we had a discussion, in the presence of Angel my previous contact, for an hour. The fact that he speaks extremely good English allowed the discussion to flow very easily.

The topics of discussion were:

1.0. Strimming      I thanked Angel for her efforts in March of this year where a team from the Town Hall Strimmed the road (Garoffers) from the roundabout on the back road all the way up to the bend just below M12. They also cleaned up the Fairy park. I am sure you will agree that their efforts made a significant improvement to the approaches to the Urbanisation.

I asked Tony whether the Town Hall will be in a position to assist us with the same kind of effort in October/November. I suggested that if the Town Hall were not in a position to help us due to either resource availability or costs we could perhaps carry out the works ourselves provided we could have the use of their strimmers as previously agreed. He was quite firm in stating that it was not a case of lack of resources or costs that were the issue but more a case of legal barriers. He pointed out that the Town Hall were very keen to help us but as the Urbanisation has not been adopted if any of the workers were sent to do the work and unfortunately had an accident there could be serious implications, which I can understand. He stated that he will do everything he can to assist and will take advice and get back to me in the next week or so. If it comes down to the fact that they cannot provide manpower he feels sure that we will be able to have the use of their strimmers. Personally I would prefer for them to do the work however we will have to wait and see.

2.0.  Weedkilling.   I suspected that when the Strimming had been carried out in March no weedkiller had subsequently been sprayed. This was confirmed by Angel. I pointed out to Tony that as a result, the vegetation along the areas that had been strimmed was coming through again and will only get worse over the coming winter. He agreed that this needs to be done however we may be back in the same situation as for Strimming. I stated that if we know precisely what the procedure is in obtaining licences to purchase the recommended weedkiller and what action needs to be taken in terms of who may be qualified to do the work as it would be within our capabilities to do it ourselves. He stated that effectively there are three stages of qualification for licences depending on where the spraying is to take place so he will find out out exactly what stage will be applicable to our needs and get back to me to advise me as to what action we need to take.

3.0.  Noticeboard at Entrance I have had two access keys cut for the Noticeboard as it is necessary to use two keys to open it. I have handed the keys over to Paul Trunchion as it was agreed at the last meeting that he should be the custodian. We discussed the need for the current map contained within the Noticeboard to be either laminated or printed on a more robust fabric than in its current paper state. He agreed, however, interestingly he stated that he thought that we would have required a separate display board for the map. I was quite surprised because initially that was my thought but as we were only given the Noticeboard we have at present I felt that to go back would be pushing it a little so accepted what we have got. I did point out that currently the map takes up a lot of space leaving little room for other notices. He said that he would investigate the possibility of another display board for the map thus freeing up the notice board for notices only. As it was his suggestion we may have some success.

After we had discussed the above issues Tony explained to me that the Town Hall have rooms available in the building that can be utilised by Residents of Gata Residencial for activities that could include Workshops, Presentations, Classes, Art Gallery etc, etc all free of charge if available at the time of request. This may be of interest to Associación members !

In summary my impression was that he is keen to help but we will have to wait and see over time. He expressly requested that I pass on to you his apologies for not contacting President Louise sooner but he has been extremely busy but intends to contact her in the next week or so.

There you have it so let’s see what transpires in the next couple of weeks.

Dog Barking

There have been complaints about dog barking both on the urbanisation and in the campo.

This matter needs to be dealt with by individuals speaking to the dog owners. If the problem persists a denuncia can be pursued again by the individual. The same applies to dogs in the campo although it should be noted that the campo was here first. It was stated that all members with dogs should show consideration for their neighbours.

It was mentioned that some members were asking for a Gata Residential sign to be put up on the back road to the urbanisation. Pete Whitbread has asked our councillor about this however at present it is unclear whose responsibility this would be either local council or Valencia. Louise will raise this with the mayor.

Fees

It was agreed at the AGM that from January 2020 an annual fee of 10 euros will be required from association members. Anyone who has joined after June 2019 will not be liable for the fee in Jan 2020. An email will be put out to members who will be asked to pay within 3 months preferably by bank transfer although reps will take payments if necessary

Dog Fouling signage

Louise has spoken to the council about signage however she has not had a reply. Paul Trunchion has however put up some small signs.

Treasurers report

Amount spent this period                1312.21 euros

Income this period                             200 euros

Cash in hand at the end of May       – 9.19 euros

Balance at bank at 24-05-2019         8.117.35 euros

Balance at bank at commencement of this period {1-1-2019} = 9.134.55 euros

Membership Report

There are 336 members currently. 

Social Committee Report

The next lady’s lunch will hopefully take place in September.

Bingo will continue every month.

There is the potential for a coach to be arranged for a sopping trip later in the year.

The library is open on 1^st Sunday of every month.

The barracca at this year’s Gata festival was a success however next years will be a bigger event and any help or suggestions for a theme will be gratefully received.

AOB

Just a reminder for people to dispose of their rubbish responsibly. If there is no room for your rubbish it is not appropriate to leave it by the bins. Rubbish can be disposed of at the eco park you will need proof of your address. Alternatively, Sol Gata will collect large items left by the bins if you contact them to arrange this.

There has been a request for more sign in different languages by the bins Pete Whitbread will investigate this. Louise is producing a pictogram for the bins also.

If you live next to an empty property and the pool has stagnant water in it, you can inform the council as it may be a mosquito threat. Valencia are now fining people with stagnant pools and that if the property is unsold the fine may go to the bank so reporting empty properties is advised.

Angie Dickinson also mentioned that the more residents recycle rubbish the less it costs the council to clear it and so will become cheaper for the residents.

 Louise reported that there is a new and more complex form that has to be completed to get building permission from the Ayuntamiento. The form can be downloaded from the Owners website – Useful We Links page – Ayuntamiento Gata Building Licence.

The next meeting is 3/11/19 at 10.15am