ESG Radio Newsletter –
Key Words:- Development and Planning, Capt of the Port departure, The Marriott Hotel, Football Stadium, CUTW
We’d like to run through a number of issues we have recently focused on as we believe these are of public interest.
When talking about development its possibly helpful to you to note down upcoming Dev and planning meetings as there are an unusual number of these coming up over the next few weeks. Five in fact, between now and the end of April. This is because apart from the usual high number of moderately sized applications there are also a few large-scale proposals, which take up a lot of time and discussion at these sessions. So, notebook ready?
OK, General meetings will be held on the 18th March at the later time of 10.30am, and then on the 27th March and 24th April at the usual time of 9.30am.
For the Mariott Hotel application, this will see a focused DPC session at 3.30pm on the 21st March. The final one to mention here is the Football Stadium presentation that will take place on the 8th April, also at 9.30am. This info will also be posted on our website as from tomorrow. As per, Town Planning will post agendas for all mtgs a week beforehand accessible by the public from their website. All meetings to be held at the John Mack Hall. Please contact us if you have any queries or need more information.
This week the ESG has released two press statements – one relates to the announcement made in the media of the decision by the Captain of the Port, Captain Roy Stanbrook, to leave Gibraltar. This is in the midst, as many of us are aware, of a growing number of major developments occurring within and in close proximity to the Port, and of the actual relocation of much of the Ports administration and offices to the Retrenchment Block area. Clearly a steady and experienced Captain is needed to oversee and manage these projects which come within the Ports authority, and it is therefore seen as a huge loss to Gibraltar that his decision to leave has come at the present time. We have, and continue to publicly call for a holistic plan for the port area as best planning practices demand. We take this opportunity to thank Captain Stanbrook for his help and co-operation whenever we have sought it and wish him all the best.
The other issue is the football stadium which carries significant public interest. We have welcomed the project directors efforts to provide information of the proposed stadium, and at the proposed site- the reason why we have made our views public is that there is a strong perception within the community that this is a fait accomplait – a done deal – if only because this is the only site that is understood to have been made available by Govt. as landlords. We believe there are considerable environmental impacts from the proposed location at Europa Point and call for all options to be assessed for suitability and environmental implications before any further decisions are taken. For a closer look at our environmental concerns please visit our website at esg-gib.net for the full article. Also a reminder that the DPC will be meeting to consider this proposal on the 8th April at 9.30am. GBC will also be holding a Viewpoint programme next Thursday 20th March to discuss this issue. Promises to be lively and we call upon all those interested to phone or email in to GBC and ensure the widespread public feeling on this issue is reflected.
That’s it for now – we shall have a CUTW special in two weeks time, be sure to catch it! This year’s key date is the 20th September, celebrating our tenth year of clean up action on the Rock!
Visit our website which also publishes our radio broadcasts and all press releases – here it is again esg-gib.net – you can email us on esg@gibtelecom.net or call us on 200-48996 or 54960000 and we shall be happy to take your queries.
