This morning, representatives from the council office of the environment, heads of Formentera's waste management company, tradesmen and residents converged in the plenary hall of the Formentera Council.

Attendees were brought together by the common cause of reconciling residents' right to restful tranquility and business owners' right to run trade. In recent years, the number of businesses and restaurants in Sant Francesc has spiked, which has meant increased afternoon and evening foot traffic and activity in a town that until recently was known for peace and quiet.

For their part, residents made proposals such as coordinating more cardboard collection spots, while organisers seized the opportunity to remind those in attendance of rubbish and recycling kerbside collection times: glass receptacles from 8am to 11pm, plastics 24 hours a day, and cardboard – folded neatly and any non-cardboard objects removed – after 8pm.

The Formentera Council's office of social welfare has begun accepting applications for assistance in the form of assisted-mobility devices or adaptive living solutions for the disabled and elderly (over 65). The deadline for applications, handled by the Citizen Information Office (OAC) is 1 June.

The Council has earmarked a total of €12,000 for these assistance packages. One such package covers a percent of the cost of wheelchairs, adaptive devices for vehicles or certain other appliances that increase mobility. Home remodel work can also be requested in order to augment an individual's personal autonomy.

New area for disabled users of Day Centre

Just last weekend having celebrated four years of public service, the Formentera Day Centre recently added a new option for users: a specific area, open Monday-Friday, 8am to 5pm, dedicated to individuals with disabilities. Through an array of programmes and activities, individuals receiving care in the new wing can work on personal improvement and reinforcing daily living skills.

This morning in plenary, in a vote that reflected the will of Gent per Formentera, PSOE and GUIF and the abstention of Partido Popular, the Formentera Council moved to urge the Abaqua company to reduce the selling price of water used at the desalination plant.

Those who voted in favour of the request noted the late March awarding of the contract for construction and remodel of the Formentera Seawater Desalination Plant to the SADYT company, at a cost of €7,352,441 – and the fact that the company's original bid had been a higher figure: €11,715,452. The Council's request is to consult cost studies conducted by Abaqua in order to determine if a repercussion on consumer water costs is necessary.

At today's date, the average cost of water in Formentera is €1.95 per cubic metre, considerably higher than the same figure in mainland Spain: €0.85. A point in the final plenary of the legislative session that received unanimous approval was the proposal to urge the other island councils across the archipelago to lend use of the multiplex channel pack that exists in service to the Balearic autonomous community to assure the broadcast of television channels canal 33, Club Super 3 and canal 3/24. Viewers in the region have been unable to receive the channels since the month of April. According to Sònia Cardona, a member of the Gent per Formentera party, “there is a political explanation – just one more in the many attacks on Catalan waged by Bauzà's Govern”. José Manuel Alcaraz of Partido Popular asserted that the transmission failure of the three channels was due to purely “technical” factors.

Another item of discussion that enjoyed unanimity in the plenary was the decision to create a mixed commission on patrimony between the Formentera Council and the Archbishopric of Eivissa. The object of the commission will be to inform the Formentera Council regarding the state of preservation and the nature of restoration necessary for the ecclesiastic patrimony. Another measure that was unanimously adopted was the accord between the Regional Department (or conselleria) of Family and Social Services and the Formentera Council concerning the administration of vacant spaces for dependent individuals receiving care at the Day Centre. The department of the Govern Balear will provide between €33 and €41 – depending on the degree of dependence of the patient in question – per day per person. Local councillor of social welfare Dolores Fernández affirmed that this was the same amount as the one provided last year.

Another measure winning unanimous approval was the proposal to urgently commence operations at the water collection pool , a structure that was completed in November 2009 though it remains inactive today. The code of regulations concerning the organisation and working practices of the Consell Escolar de Formentera (CEF) was also passed with unanimous support. The CEP is an advisory and participatory body on issues of education.

The day's plenary session had the additional distinction of attending a writing-off of the existing rights and financial obligations of the Eivissa Council, in accordance with a March 2014 accord between Formentera and the other Pitiüsa council to liquidate and off-set each administration's respective debts with the other.

The collection rights of the Formentera Council, accrued from 1997 to 2008, were in the amount of €1,373,119; while our council's own obligations – accrued between 2009 and 2012 – were €1,259,145. The age of the rights involving the aforestated obligations was the prevailing element of the decision to off-set, as affirmed by members of the coalition. PP and GUIF members abstained from the vote.

Another instance of PP and GUIF abstention was a preliminary vote to ratify  the regulatory financial ordinance behind the local summer school tax.

Alejandra Ferrer: “The only way we can compete is by being different”

In the final plenary of the legislative sitting, the councillor of tourism, transport and trade, Alejandra Ferrer, appeared before those in attendance to report on her office's work. The councilwoman asserted that what guides the Council in the work done under Ferrer's authority is “to continue being an island that is unique and different”. In Ferrer's words, “the only way to compete is by being different from the rest of the competition”.

Councillor Ferrer was extremely critical of the Govern Balear with regard to the non-transfer of authority in tourism and a perceived lack of interest in maritime regulation - “where the only thing that has been done is pay the transport companies for the resident discount”.

Ferrer indicated “the regulations concerning tourist stays in local homes, the system of regulated parking in La Savina and the restructuring of the Parc Natural de ses Salines” had been the most recent projects within her remit.

The Formentera Council, through the office of the environment, has organized for Tuesday April 28 meeting to report on the services provided in relation to the management of waste from San Francisco Javier. The meeting also aims to determine first hand the suggestions for improving the core of the residents and businesses of this village.

The meeting will take place in the plenary hall of the Formentera Council from 12am. One reason for this meeting is to inform residents of different existing services like collection points, schedules and services such as cardboard door-to-door in order to make compatible the satisfaction of residents and tradesmen, who share collection points.