Protest in Tavira – Mobility plan
About 60 citizens and residents turned up at 9:00 a.m. this morning, March 21st, outside the Tavira Council house to register their concerns about the mobility plan. If you have not already looked at the plan, today would have been the final day of the very short eight-day consultation period.
During the protest, two people made an appointment with the mayor’s office to ask for an extension of the short consultation period. The group sang a protest song to the tune of Grândola.
It seems that the protest was organized very quickly through word of mouth in response to the very short consultation period.
Some good news!
After the protest, Tavira Council extended the consultation period by another ten days. So, the deadline is now 31 March 2024. A plan of this kind probably needs a three-month extension with meetings and educational opportunities to include schools, parents, citizens, and residents.
The approximately 100-page plan is on the Municipality of Tavira’s website. My previous blog post suggested a response created by ACTIVE ECOTOPIA. After reading the plan, you may want to create your own response. If anyone wants an English DeepL translation of the plan get in contact.
Besides the short time scale for consultation, most people voiced the need for a rethink to include sustainable transport options, given the national electrification of the railway line, which will mean the closure of the crossing near the agricultural centre.
Other issues raised were the need for the prioritisation of public transport over more car parks and sustainable and affordable housing for local people.
Having talked with concerned citizens and residents in Tavira today, people want to avoid division in the town and are looking for shared ideas and better communication.
After the protest in Tavira, the Municipal Council put out a statement via various media asking for a right of reply. You can read the full statement here
I have translated the first two sections and they state:
- The document on which a public consultation process is taking place is a report produced by the company that is developing the Sustainable Mobility Plan for the City of Tavira (PMSCT), and is not the final version of the document, which will only be consultation was carried out after the collection of contributions from the current phase and approval at a meeting of the executive body;
- It should be noted that public consultation of this type of document, which is non-binding, is not mandatory. However, the municipal executive decided to allow interested parties to present their contributions, which, we emphasize, must be materialized and sent by email ( mobility@cm-tavira.pt ), which will all be welcome and properly analyzed and considered. Proof of this is the executive’s decision to extend, for another 10 days , the deadline for sending contributions so that those who have not yet done so have the possibility of doing so.
