Basic quality of life subordinated

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 Monday, October 7, 2019 - 10:03
Basic quality of life subordinated

ELECTION 2019

By TREVOR HAMMOND, GSD candidate

For too long now our basic quality of life, our fundamental needs have been subordinated to rushed development, to serving the interests of the few over the needs of the many. The current Government has entirely lost sight of the basic requirements of this community, in its need to tick boxes, it fails to plan strategically and instead does everything piecemeal and in a reactive way. 

Take our new schools and in particular the Comprehensives. They are much needed and wonderful facilities and I can say this easily because they represent the delivery of a GSD manifesto commitment from the last election, one that the GSLP dismissed as a “mega-school”. They took the idea and built it in the wrong place, an area already heavily congested, polluted and difficult to access, and they did this to try and persuade people that they were not simply following the GSD idea. But they were.

And once again in this election it is the GSD that are providing an intelligent strategy for the future of our community while the GSLP flounder for a plan that is sympathetic to our needs.

The GSD is proposing to build 500 new homes for Government rental. This is the only way to significantly impact the housing waiting list and ensures that people who cannot otherwise afford a home are in a position to have one, a fundamental need for any family.

We propose to build a theatre at the site of the Queen’s cinema because it’s the right place to build it. The GSLP are promising a theatre for the third election in a row, that promise can no longer be believed. But we go further because with the theatre we will create underground parking at Grand Parade to create a beautiful park extending from the theatre to the steps of the Alameda. By relocating the fire brigade into a bespoke facility the fire station can be used for cultural purposes, galleries and rehearsal rooms.

We have a ten year plan to convert the dockyard southward from ragged staff into a retail and leisure park while relocating the industries from there, Gibdock will be made to comply with tougher environmental requirements so that it stops its polluting practices. We will continue on to Rosia Bay and work with environment and heritage agencies to develop this to allow the enjoyment of its history and natural history for education, leisure and tourism.

And not only will all of these projects require approval from the DPC but we will remove the Ministers from that body.

We will introduce strong measures to deal with our poor air quality. Reducing the amount of construction, financially encouraging people and businesses to buy cleaner vehicles, building parking at the frontier to reduce the number of foreign vehicles coming into town, reviewing bunkering operations to ensure best practice.

The GSD is the only party with the imagination and experience to deliver these sweeping changes, on the 17th October vote GSD.

07-10-2019 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR