Round Town News 25 1 2008: Alcalali - Unite or Lose
Written by Jack Troughton
Friday, 25 January 2008
Campaigners Jenny Bussey, Charles Svoboda and Enrique Climent with meeting organisers.
Bickering factions of Jalon Valley residents hoping to protect their community from unwanted development were this week warned to stand united or lose the battle.
Veteran campaigners from the AUN and neighbouring Parcent were invited to a public meeting to share experiences and guide the fledgling pressure group Veins de Alcalali - the Neighbours of Alcalali - forward. However, AUN president and vice-president Enrique Climent and Charles Svoboda, and Jenny Bussey, a founder member of Veins de Parcent and a former town councillor, found themselves cast as peacemakers in the emotional and at times chaotic Alcalali gathering.
Their combined message was simple. All the community must stand together to protest against unsustainable development plans submitted to the town hall and help shape Alcalali's new general plan. And residents were also urged to acknowledge the wider picture as developers were quietly buying land along the length of the picturesque valley.
SCARE
A Round Town News report of a concrete nightmare with land being bulldozed to build a four-lane highway linking satellite urbanisations around the towns and villages, with thousands of new houses and golf courses was attacked as "scare mongering".
But Jenny Bussey defended this worst-case scenario after seeing a plan - also seen by an RTN investigator - containing a dual carriageway stretching across Parcent from its border with neighbouring Benichembla to Alcalali. "Where was that road meant to go to?" she asked, reminding the meeting that through a number of companies, constructor Ballester was already "upsetting" people along the valley.
She said: "This road has to go somewhere. He has a plan in his head and is buying land left, right, and centre through agents. He is buying land in Alcalali and land in Parcent. It is quite possible this would go ahead. "It is possible. Okay, there is rumour and supposition but it is possible it could happen and if we don't fight it, it will happen - Ballester is the fourth richest man in Spain, he can buy people.
"It could happen. You must unite to fight this - if you fight each other, you will not get anywhere."
STRENGTH
Jenny said the new group must get over its teething problems and involve all nationalities living in the area. "Your strength is in unity…..you have to learn to talk to each other, that is really important."
Earlier she warned how anyone with "a vested interest" in development and construction "will do everything they can to carry it through" and blight the whole valley.
Jenny said the key in Alcalali was the new general plan, which would shape the sustainable growth of the municipality in the coming years. "Do not be frightened by the opposition you will undoubtedly get here.
In Parcent, first we were ignored, then we were ridiculed, and finally they fought against us in any way possible," she said. "Now we are winning our battles and soon we will be winning the war."
Enrique Climent said all residents, whether they were Spanish or foreigners, must join together. "We are all Europeans". He said it was very simple to form a legal association in Spain and the AUN could advise how to carefully word the "aims" of the registered body.
PROTECTION
"You then have the legal authority to act as an association and you get legal protection. You can begin to act and must designate people to do the work - when you know what you want to do, divide up the job."
And Charles Svoboda said the AUN was formed by a "small group of firebrands" but the body quickly accepted that to make an impact the protest group needed to be inclusive of all nationalities. He believed, including affiliated groups across the country, there was now an AUN membership of up to 35,000 people fighting unwanted urbanisation.
"We cannot act as individuals, we have to act as a collective," he said. Charles said it was important residents paid attention to what was going on in their respective town halls. "It is very important to stay on top of that." He warned otherwise local authority planning decisions could be presented as a fait accompli, making opposition much harder. "If you get in at the outset and make a noise and get your opinion on the table, you will make sure your opinion is heard and respected," he said. "Remember, an absolute majority of one in a town hall can basically pass a plan that can change a place forever."
Friday, 25 January 2008
Campaigners Jenny Bussey, Charles Svoboda and Enrique Climent with meeting organisers.
Bickering factions of Jalon Valley residents hoping to protect their community from unwanted development were this week warned to stand united or lose the battle.
Veteran campaigners from the AUN and neighbouring Parcent were invited to a public meeting to share experiences and guide the fledgling pressure group Veins de Alcalali - the Neighbours of Alcalali - forward. However, AUN president and vice-president Enrique Climent and Charles Svoboda, and Jenny Bussey, a founder member of Veins de Parcent and a former town councillor, found themselves cast as peacemakers in the emotional and at times chaotic Alcalali gathering.
Their combined message was simple. All the community must stand together to protest against unsustainable development plans submitted to the town hall and help shape Alcalali's new general plan. And residents were also urged to acknowledge the wider picture as developers were quietly buying land along the length of the picturesque valley.
SCARE
A Round Town News report of a concrete nightmare with land being bulldozed to build a four-lane highway linking satellite urbanisations around the towns and villages, with thousands of new houses and golf courses was attacked as "scare mongering".
But Jenny Bussey defended this worst-case scenario after seeing a plan - also seen by an RTN investigator - containing a dual carriageway stretching across Parcent from its border with neighbouring Benichembla to Alcalali. "Where was that road meant to go to?" she asked, reminding the meeting that through a number of companies, constructor Ballester was already "upsetting" people along the valley.
She said: "This road has to go somewhere. He has a plan in his head and is buying land left, right, and centre through agents. He is buying land in Alcalali and land in Parcent. It is quite possible this would go ahead. "It is possible. Okay, there is rumour and supposition but it is possible it could happen and if we don't fight it, it will happen - Ballester is the fourth richest man in Spain, he can buy people.
"It could happen. You must unite to fight this - if you fight each other, you will not get anywhere."
STRENGTH
Jenny said the new group must get over its teething problems and involve all nationalities living in the area. "Your strength is in unity…..you have to learn to talk to each other, that is really important."
Earlier she warned how anyone with "a vested interest" in development and construction "will do everything they can to carry it through" and blight the whole valley.
Jenny said the key in Alcalali was the new general plan, which would shape the sustainable growth of the municipality in the coming years. "Do not be frightened by the opposition you will undoubtedly get here.
In Parcent, first we were ignored, then we were ridiculed, and finally they fought against us in any way possible," she said. "Now we are winning our battles and soon we will be winning the war."
Enrique Climent said all residents, whether they were Spanish or foreigners, must join together. "We are all Europeans". He said it was very simple to form a legal association in Spain and the AUN could advise how to carefully word the "aims" of the registered body.
PROTECTION
"You then have the legal authority to act as an association and you get legal protection. You can begin to act and must designate people to do the work - when you know what you want to do, divide up the job."
And Charles Svoboda said the AUN was formed by a "small group of firebrands" but the body quickly accepted that to make an impact the protest group needed to be inclusive of all nationalities. He believed, including affiliated groups across the country, there was now an AUN membership of up to 35,000 people fighting unwanted urbanisation.
"We cannot act as individuals, we have to act as a collective," he said. Charles said it was important residents paid attention to what was going on in their respective town halls. "It is very important to stay on top of that." He warned otherwise local authority planning decisions could be presented as a fait accompli, making opposition much harder. "If you get in at the outset and make a noise and get your opinion on the table, you will make sure your opinion is heard and respected," he said. "Remember, an absolute majority of one in a town hall can basically pass a plan that can change a place forever."
posted by Charles Svoboda at
12:47 PM
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