The plenary session of Calpe Town Council has initially approved the rules for the granting of aid Lloguer Jove, aimed at renting the usual housing for young people with few resources. This is the first time that the Calpe council has granted aid aimed at access to housing, as the mayoress of Calpe, Ana Sala, pointed out.
"This is something pioneering, we bring some bases for the first time in the history of this town, of this City Council, for access to housing," she said. "We were making an effort with a specific modification to facilitate access to housing for young people at affordable prices but while that takes place - because a specific modification of the PGOU is delayed in time - we have preferred to accompany the aid from the Generalitat Valenciana with this municipal aid," she added.
The Lloguer Jove grants are aimed at young people up to 35 years of age who do not have sufficient economic resources to pay the rent, with the aim of facilitating their emancipation. In this regard, the councillor for Social Policy, Itziar Doval, stressed that young people "may be the group that has more difficulties when it comes to accessing the labour market and therefore, getting an income to rent a home can be a major effort".
Among the requirements set out in the rules for accessing the aid is to be registered in the municipality at least one year prior to the start date of the call, the rented property must be the habitual and permanent residence of the tenant as well as having an income equal to or less than 3 times the public income indicator of multiple effects (IPREM). If there is a large family or a person with functional diversity with a degree equal to or greater than 65%, the threshold will be 5 times the IPREM.
The point was presented outside the agenda by way of urgency. 300,000 euros will be earmarked for this purpose from the surplus cash which must be implemented before the end of the year. Each beneficiary will be eligible for a grant of 1,200 euros for six months' rent.
The point had the abstention of Defendamos Calpe and the popular municipal group. The spokesman for Defendamos Calpe, Paco Quiles, said that his group would abstain because the documentation for the item had arrived shortly before the start of the plenary session and therefore they had not had time to study it.
For his part, the PP spokesman, César Sánchez, pointed out that this aid is "inconsistent and does not solve the problem of young people's emancipation" and reproached the government team for only contemplating aid for six months' rent. In this sense, he presented three amendments in voce, which were rejected, in which he requested that the bases should include functional diversity, that they should provide aid for a minimum of two years, as well as 20 per cent more aid for rentals in the historic centre to contribute to the revitalisation of this area of the municipality.
The spokesman for the government team, Ximo Perles, invited the PP to present allegations and assured that these aids "are not enough, of course, but they are a start".
Tourist train
On the other hand, the plenary approved the start of the tender for the new tourist train service, a new contract for eight years that includes clauses on Smart Tourist Destinations. In this sense, it contemplates the highest score for companies that offer a low-emission vehicle; it also highlights as a novelty that companies will be awarded points if they present an app so that users can book tickets, know where the train is and therefore the waiting time and whether it is full or not. And it sets a minimum fee of 28,000 euros that companies will have to bid upwards.
Photovoltaic energy premises
Another of the issues that passed through the plenary was a new instruction that aims to make the high demand for licenses for the installation of photovoltaic panels compatible with the aesthetics of the municipality. Therefore, the new instruction establishes as a priority that the panels are installed on the buildings, preferably on the roof, parallel to the roof - and therefore, avoiding that they are inclined - and only in the case that the building has been filled can they be installed on the ground. This instruction will be taken into account when submitting a project for the installation of photovoltaic panels to obtain the corresponding licence.
Emergencies
The plenary session also approved the revision of the municipal territorial plan for emergencies in Calpe, as well as two specific municipal action plans such as the municipal action plan for forest fires and the municipal action plan for seismic risk. The flooding plan is still pending and will be presented at the next ordinary plenary session.
These are emergency response plans with specific measures on how to act in the event of such a situation, which include meeting points for citizens, escape routes and channels of communication with the population of Calpe, among other measures.