ESG Radio Broadcast 13th October 2022
Key topics: Follow up activity post Clean up/ Seven Sisters and ongoing oil concerns/ / Development & Planning Meeting / Climate Change and need for far greater prominence
Hi! There is much to cover today in a short space of time so here goes!!
Many of you will remember the inspiring and energised Clean up which took place less than a month ago. A real shake up as always: a focus on hotspots, forgotten areas, right in your face areas and much more. The Gibraltar wide action involving volunteers of all ages – with many schools involved – encourages civic pride and raises awareness on the importance of looking after your home town and natural environment. It’s a fantastic initiative the ESG has been proud to coordinate for 18 years to date. We now continue with post action reports, lobbying for improvements, presentations, discussions and more.
Of course the clean up efforts did not end with the main event on the Saturday. Just a week after the clean up at Seven Sisters, we again organised some volunteers to help with the heavy oil pollution, which landed on this special shoreline – a thriving marine reserve. A shattering experience for nature lovers, given the impact this tarry substance has on the living environment. So began an intense and urgent battle to rescue the reserve from the shocking pollution to leak from the stricken vessel OS 35. This Saturday marks 3 weeks and work continues.
Once again we must thank our volunteers who have been on standby from the start and have actively responded on 3 occasions to help the Dept of the Env and GJBS who daily tackle this contamination. It is no picnic and we thank those working round the clock to free Seven Sisters of the oil as quickly as possible.
The ESG welcomes the details publicly provided by the Captain of the Port on the plans for the complete removal of OS 35 – something we also asked for publicly. Like others we remain concerned however about the wrecks stability during the harsher winter months and any remaining oil on board which could still threaten our marine environment – we continue to be on standby should our volunteers be needed.
A reminder that the DPC meet next Thursday 20th of October to discuss another round of planning applications. You can access live streaming of the meeting by going to : Town Planning Website and clicking on DPC meetings.
Next time we look at Climate Change and Gibraltar’s Strategy and the need for far greater prominence of this critical objective.
Go to website: esg-gib.net for more info on other issues.
Thanks for listening.
