The plenary session of Calpe Town Council has initially approved the modification of several articles of the municipal traffic ordinance with time-limited parking regulations. The modification has a double objective: to adapt the ordinance to the current road safety regulations and to adapt the regulation to the new conditions and needs for the future tendering of the time-limited parking service contract.
Among the modifications introduced is the elimination of the so-called green zone (an administrative zone that was only payable in the morning), which will become a blue zone. This change is in response to a request from the Calpe Business Association itself, which asked for several streets in the green zone to be changed to blue to boost the commercial dynamism of certain areas of the municipality.
On the other hand, the extension and timetable of the orange zone (beach zone with effect only in summer) has been extended to a maximum of six hours and its duration has been extended from July and August to June to September.
The new ordinance enables the use of the app as a method of verifying payment and changes the effective date of residents ‘and traders’ cards to an annual period.
In addition, motorbikes and electric vehicles are no longer exempt from paying for the regulated parking service. The City Council establishes the possibility that in the new contract for the management of the public service, those who have the status of Resident or Trader and whose vehicle has the DGT's ‘zero emissions’ environmental badge will receive a discount, and it is expected that in the future contract the price of the service will be reduced for residents.
Other modifications to the ordinance relating to road safety refer to the speed of vehicles circulating in the town centre, prohibited parking places, the prohibition of parking on public roads for buses, the possibility of setting up parking areas for the exclusive use of pharmacies' emergency services, and areas for ambulances from private clinics and loading and unloading operations.
Another modification refers to the express prohibition of parking when the City Council has signalled its prohibition in this space 48 hours before. Until now, non-compliance with this prohibition did not entail the removal of the vehicle or a fine.
INCREASE IN THE WASTE TAX
The plenary session also approved the modification of the ordinance regulating the household waste collection charge. The updating of the waste tax is carried out in accordance with the new state law on waste - in application of a European directive - which requires that waste management in each town hall must not be loss-making, i.e., that the town halls must collect 100% of the cost of the service with the waste tax.
For the modification of the ordinance, an economic-financial study was carried out to analyse the costs of the service and set the fee considering criteria of economic capacity and waste generation. The distribution of the charge has been carried out by creating nine zones (based on the cadastral valuation)
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In her speech, the mayoress, Ana Sala, stressed that ‘all the variables have been tried to ensure that the impact of this increase is as small as possible, we do not want to increase waste, but we are obliged to do so by European regulations. In any case, it is a provisional approval that will be in force for a year as we will work to create a new, better, more adjusted rate in which those who recycle the most pay less and those who pollute the most are penalised’.
The spokesman for Defendamos Calpe, Paco Quiles, said that ‘Europe is not asking us to raise the price, it says that those who generate more waste should pay more, you have not worked on this proposal. The method chosen is unfair because they focus on the economic capacity of the area where we live, but they forget about the generation of waste, they miss the objective of the law’.
Miguel Crespo, PP spokesman criticised the waste collection service ‘the way forward is to achieve a more efficient and economic service, it is a short cut by a government without ideas. We miss bonuses and the participation of the residents. This tax is not well worked out, it does not encourage recycling but punishes families. It is not possible to spend so much money on festivals, lights and concerts and then raise the tax in some areas almost double. It is a pure and simple tax increase that will bring in 2 million in revenue by 2025’.
The PSOE spokesman, Guillermo Sendra, said that ‘we know it is an unpopular measure, but to take political advantage of the government team for it is incredible, what are they doing in Benissa, Teulada, Elche or Alicante where the PP governs, all these towns are increasing the tax, some of them quadrupling or tripling it’.
The Compromís councillor and government spokesman, Ximo Perles, also declared that ‘this tax has nothing to do with the service contract, let's not forget that the waste contract is the result of the management of the popular party, we voted against it. The zoning is carried out by SUMA to apply different criteria, the average cadastral value and the number of people registered in each house’.
The councillor of Defendamos Calpe Juan Manuel del Pino said, ‘people should know that we pay almost two million euros to the Mare Consortium for the recycling plant in Campello, let's be aware that recycling is expensive, but there are costs that have to be assumed’.
STUDENT TRANSPORT SUBSIDY BASES
Today's plenary session also approved the rules governing the granting of aid for the transport of students studying outside Calpe. These rules have had to be modified after receiving a report from the Conselleria that indicated the duplication with the aid already granted by the Generalitat to high school students outside the municipality of origin.
Thus, it has been established that students studying intermediate and higher vocational training, professional and higher artistic education, university studies, master's and doctorate degrees and distance university education in centres outside the municipality will be able to benefit from this aid.
It is expected to be able to call and resolve the granting of these aids before the end of the year. The grants have a budget of €150,000.