Dear friends,
I hope you all saw the ridiculous article perpetrated by Ismel Reig and published last Thursday in Las Provincias – or at
least my translation of it. The Veïns de Parcent reply went in and was published on Sunday. Today I have sent in a press release in
response to it, on your behalf, and Mark Harrison also did one (both below). The Town Hall has also sent in their point of view
today. Maybe it seems like taking a sledgehammer to crack a walnut, but the accusations were so gross and wrong, we all felt it could
not be left. Don't forget, you can see these on our website at www.veinsdeparcent.info,
along with the pictures taken at our recent demos in Parcent and Valencia. Did you take photos at the one in Parcent? If so, please
send them to our very efficient webmaster, at web_parcent@hotmail.com.
Press release 1 – Mark Harrison - 11th January 2008
When he has lost the argument, Ismael Reig does what all scoundrels do - he resorts to personal attacks, the most insulting of which is an attack on every single member of the European community in Parcent whom he accuses of being stupid and ignorant. In reality, the European residents were fully aware of the facts about what he and the previous PP administration wanted for the village:
The CDP candidates told the people of Parcent the truth about these schemes in their election material, unlike the PP whose glossy brochures failed to include a single mention of their excessive, urbanisation plans.
To make matters worse, these insulting accusations come from a councillor who voted in favour of the PAI for El Replá knowing that his brother was an agent for the promoter.
No, señor Ismael Reig, the people of Parcent, including the European community, are not stupid or ignorant. Indeed they showed wisdom and foresight in voting against a party that systematically lied to the public and tried to cover up what they were really up to.
As for sustainability, Reig doesn't understand the meaning of the word. Why else would he hide the Local Agenda 21 report that criticised his party's plans? Why would he ignore the views of the Courts, the Sindic de Greuges, and the CHJ? Why does he now want to ignore the sensible stance of the PP's own Minister of Environment and Territory, sr José Ramón García Antón? Above all, why does Reig insult the European residents and ignore the democratic wishes of the people of Parcent?
Press release 2 – Jenny Bussey - 11th January 2008
As vice-chairman of the Veïns de Parcent and resident for more than 20 years of this up-to-now lovely village, I would like to reply to the accusations of the ex-councillor of Town Planning and spokesperson for the local PP, Ismael Reig, about the electoral campaign of 2007 and the role that the residents played in the defeat of the PP.
First, we are not stupid. We are mature people, well-educated – some up to university level – who have chosen to make our home in the Vall del Pop. We came here because of its peacefulness, beauty and its welcoming villages and people. Many of us have been living here 10, 20, or even 34 years. Some of us came to work and raise our families, others to enjoy our retirement happily and securely. We do not wish to create problems for anybody, especially our Spanish neighbours. Up to two years ago, everything was going fine, even though many found that their houses, bought with the help of well paid agents and lawyers, were illegal or, at the best, consolidated – that's to say, they cannot be demolished without some previous notice. It seems that the councils at that time let them be built without the correct permissions, so that the infrastructure was totally deficient, which it remains to this day.
Finding ourselves threatened by plans to enlarge the village with 3500 new houses in the draft General Plan being drawn up by the then ruling PP, in 2006 we looked for answers that told us the truth. We searched for and distributed trustworthy information and fought together with our neighbours to annul the decisions taken at the council meeting held on 30th January 2006. We were supported by the institutions from which we sought help, all of whom said that the plans were unsustainable.
In the end, when the election in 2007 came, we tried to inform everybody in the village, including the residents, of the true political situation that we were facing. We also made the effort to assure that everyone knew of their right to vote, and how to do so. It is pure fantasy to say that the residents did not know where the Town Hall was. We have all had to go there to check that we were on the padrón and the electoral roll or, if not, to ensure that we were duly enlisted.
If the PP lost the election it is because they did not act in a way that made the residents feel confident in them during their legislature, nor did they run an electoral campaign that took account of us. I repeat, we are not stupid, and understand very well what is going on; we are not blind, as we see things very clearly; nor deaf, and sometimes what is not said is louder than all the flannel and trickery that comes from the spokesperson for the PP, sr Reig.
When a friend of mine who has lived in Parcent for a long time saw the article in Las Provincias last Thursday, she exclaimed: "How is it possible for Ismael Reig to have so much contempt for the residents? Does he think we are all like him? That we only think of our own good? We love Parcent and its lovely countryside a great deal and don't want to see a few people destroy it for pure greed."
Demo in Valencia, follow-up
Our visit to Valencia last Saturday to leave an envelope containing hand-written questions and petitions to the Valencian Minister of the Environment, etc., sr José Ramón García Antón, was well reported in the Spanish press the next day. As a result, the Minister was asked what he was going to do about the PAIs of Parcent after a PP pre-election meeting being held in Benissa that morning. His reply was typically contradictory – he would not go against the wishes of the Town Council and asked them to make their position clear, but the ministry had the last say in whether the PAIs would be passed or not, so we are really no further forward and STILL waiting for him to make up his mind and act, one way or another. However, with the general election looming up on 9th March, it is unlikely that we will get a response before then. Let's just hope the Spanish people start to see just what the PP stand for and don't return them to power (not that PSOE is necessarily much better!).
Many thanks to all of you who supported this demo. As usual, we made an impact with better results than we ever dreamed of.
All best wishes,
Jenny