On 21 April, 2023, at the premises of the Vista Verde Social Club, the Annual General Meting of CERA took place, with 42 members attending, 21 in person and 21 by proxy.
The President thanked Vista Verde Social Club for the use of their premises and all the attendees who were present. She addressed the meeting in the following terms:
I would like to comment on various aspects of our activities.
CERA is committed to representing all residents of, and visitors to, Costa Esuri. We will strive to advance the interests of the community and to improve the environment and facilities available on the site.
The continuing failure of the EUC to fulfil its obligations and to give residents value for the significant amounts of money we pay, is totally unacceptable. Our struggle with the EUC will continue, but we will not be distracted from our determination to continually improve the environment for all residents and visitors.
The following are some of the issues with which we have been involved:
7 June 2021: Traffic around Lomas, following the opening of the Coviran Supermarket, has increased substantially. This is made worse by the general increase in population in the area. Traffic will only increase in the future. CERA has filed a request with the Ayuntamiento to review the problem with parking. We provided a small plan, drawn up by an architect, to provide parking spaces on plot S1, close to the sports pitch. We still await a reply.
1 August 2021: CERA proposed further traffic calming measures, e.g. zebra crossings and ways to prevent cars parking on the sidewalk. We made clear the danger caused by increased traffic. It was stressed that the road alongside the Commercial Centre is a continuous bend, with blind spots when cars are moving off in the face of oncoming traffic. We have still received no reply.
10 March 2022: We filed a complaint about the lack of an adequate response about the above. Still no reply.
14 March 2022: We received notice from the Ayuntamiento that CERA could place two speed bumps on the road opposite Coviran Supermarket.
22 March 2022: CERA notified the Ayuntamiento that we do not have the financial or other resources to do this work and that it is clearly the responsibility of the Ayuntamiento.
Despite our efforts and warnings, nothing has happened. There was an accident outside Coviran recently where two cars hit each other head on. Both drivers were lucky to survive. We spoke to the police, who have said that they will consider our request. We have pointed out that people must cross the road to access the bins. Also, people park on the opposite side of the road to access the shop and café. We are very concerned that an even more serious accident could happen soon. We will continue to apply pressure.
Defibrillators: The population of Esuri is growing and there are many elderly residents. We think it would be of great benefit to us all if we could all have quick access to a defibrillator as ambulances can take some time to respond to emergency calls. Our objective is to campaign to raise funds to place a defibrillator close to every community on Esuri. This will become one of our main priorities next year.
Membership: You may have noticed that on many occasions members of CERA have been standing outside Coviran (on Lomas). Our intention has been to raise the profile of CERA and to recruit new members. This shows our commitment to CERA and its importance to the community.
In conclusion, CERA is working hard to represent the community and to enhance the facility, improve the environment, and to support the welfare of all residents and visitors.
Following the above, the Agenda, as well as the Committee’s management and accounts for 2022, were unanimously approved.
Regarding activities for the rest of the year, we will insist on the need to regulate traffic around the Lomas commercial centre, e.g. that a car park be set up, that there be more police surveillance and that zebra crossings and sleeping policemen be installed.
We will continue to insist on improving the bus service that is currently scarce and does not reach all residential complexes.
We will try to organise participatory days with other Ayamonte associations.
We propose to conduct surveys through our website to know the most important interests of owners and neighbours.
Regarding actions related to the EUC, we have put in place two contentious administrative appeals against the 2021 AGM, which we hope will be resolved favourably. We are preparing others against the 2022 Assembly and have appealed concerning both the call and the resolutions adopted at the EUC AGM held in March this year.
Several articles of the EUC Statutes need to be amended, which are often inconsistent and even contradictory. We are looking forward to meeting with the Town Hall.
New members of the Committee were elected. It will be constituted from now on as follows:
President: Mrs. Gómez
Vice President: Mr. McGuire
Treasurer: Mr. Kelly
Secretary: Mrs. Martínez
Members: Messrs. Cuevas and Tapia, Mrs. Davis, Mrs. Middleton, Mrs. Mustow and Mrs. Osa.
Any Other Business.
* The passage of heavy trucks for the construction works in Costa Esuri is discussed, because they degrade our roads. Their repair will be at the expense of all of us who have a property in Costa Esuri.
As we know, the road from the roundabout on the A49 to the first roundabout at the entrance to Costa Esuri is the responsibility of the City Council, it is not in the territory maintained by the EUC. Therefore, the fact that the bridge may or may not support heavy trucks, is something that the City Council must take into account.
However, the deterioration of our streets does affect us because we will have to repair them ourselves. Those attending the meeting tell us to insist, as we have done several times, that the road before the bridge and surrounding Costa Esuri be used, being the one that was used during the construction of our Urbanisation.
The solution to the problem is that heavy trucks should be diverted along this road and signs should indicate that, from that point, the passage of trucks (at least over a certain weight) is prohibited.
* The lack of notification of the Annual General Meeting of the EUC is commented on and also that some notifications were delivered to certain mailboxes in the Communities, and not to others. This may be because, in some complexes, postmen cannot enter.
* Excavations are being made for major works that move the material excavated, including large rocks, to plots whose owners may not know this is happening. Both the transfer and the discharge produces dust and very annoying noise. We have already reported this to the City Council several times and will continue to do so, as well as reporting on the dump sites that are getting bigger and bigger around Las Colinas and Albatros Golf I at the end of Gonzalo de Berceo street.
* Comments on the response of the City Council to our request for traffic islands and/or speed bumps in front of the commercial centre of Lomas: The City Council told CERA to deal with this, which is a way of avoiding their responsibility, but CERA does not have the resources. However, the Local Police Chief, in conversation with a CERA member, said that they could not implement any of these works because, on one side of the road there is a pavement and on the other side there is parking. Both the speed bumps and the traffic islands should go from pavement to pavement. We will insist on either solution, based on the fact that, on the side of the car park, there are rubbish bins and a bus stop, so there are continuously people, including children, moving between both sides of the street. In any case, traffic measures must be taken in that area.
* With regard to the upcoming municipal elections, it is noted that, on 30 January 2023, there were 2,261 residents registered as such at the Town Hall. Everyone who can vote must do so, because Costa Esuri residents can be the deciding factor as to who rules in Ayamonte. The candidate for Mayor, Mr. Alberto Fernández, held a meeting a few days ago with members of the Committee, in which we asked him for, among other things, a civic centre, improvement of the bus service and to attend to the good functioning of the EUC. We expect meetings with Mr. Santana of Ayamonte Ahora and the Socialist Party in the coming days.
* Also discussed is the planning of Costa Esuri, which was originally designed to be an area for holiday homes. Whereas today, with a majority of permanent residents, it does not have adequate services such as bars, restaurants, hairdressers etc.
We will send the complete Minutes to those associates who request them by e-mail to secretaria@esuriresident.com.