Join Talk Quesada

Welcome to Talk Quesada! My name's Alex and this is my website all about Ciudad Quesada in Spain. Talk Quesada is free to sign up and use so register below!

ROJALES NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH Minutes of meeting on 5th March

ROJALES NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH Minutes of meeting on 5th March

Postby Jan » Sun Mar 18, 2018 12:30 pm

We have been kindly passed this on by member Benji, to post on the forum on behalf of the Rojales Neighbourhood Watch Group.
With thanks to the Rojales NW group for passing their very helpful information on to us:

ROJALES NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH GROUP
MINUTES OF THE MEETING ON MONDAY 5 MARCH 2018

(including Annual General Meeting)


AT 11.00 IN THE MUNICIPAL CENTRE, CIUDAD QUESADA

1. Introduction and Apologies - Helen Tudor
Apologies received from Pat Phillips, Pat Goddard, Julie Wilkinson Albert Stokes.
There were 40 people present.
Helen welcomed Geoff Salter, the Secretary of Neighbourhood Watch in Spain, the
umbrella organisiation for all the individual Neighbourhood Watch groups.
2. Annual General Meeting - Helen Tudor
Helen said that she and Pat had kept the members informed of crimes and incidents via
email and Facebook, which seems to have worked quite well. She asked if this is the right
way to go or if there are some others who would like to take on these responsibilites and
set up regular meetings? The general reply was that they wanted the process to stay as is.
She said that use of Facebook and general emails to members and friends had been good
and that many people share the information around their friends and contacts in the area.
In the absence of any other suggestions, Pat and Helen agreed to continue with this
present format and will do their best to keep members informed of incidents in the area.
Helen also thanked Talk Quesada for passing on Neighbourhood Watch messages which
ensures that Neighbourhood Watch news reaches a wider audience in the Rojales and
Quesada area.

3. Treasurer's report - Helen Tudor
Following last year's AGM, Pat and Helen visited the three nominated charities – Age
Concern, Alzheimers and Easy Horse and presented each with €100. This used all the
money held in our funds.
Helen said that we do not propose to ask for any more donations to the group as we do
not have any foreseeable, extra expenses.
Geoff Salter had brought some more Tiles and UV pens which can be bought for €5 and
50 cents respectively.
4. Update from Neighbourhood Watch in Spain
Helen asked Geoff to give an update on the wider picture for Neighbourhood Watch in
Spain.
Geoff is secretary to Neighbourhood Watch in Spain which now covers 2.5million homes
between Javea and Marbella. He said it is important to report all crimes as this can be
reflected in the staffing levels of the various security organisations.
Geoff said that at the end of this May a new Data Protecton Act will come into force which
requires that in order to use a person's email address or telephone number to circulate
information, an organisation must have the owner's written permission to do so. Failure to
do so can result in a very heavy fine!
The main changes to the Act are that an individual has the right to see the data held about
themselves and has the right to have that data removed. Geoff is appointed as the Data

Consult our website: http://www.neighbourhoodwatchinspain.com

Protection officer to Neighbourhood Watch in Spain and will take over that responsibility
from each of the groups within the organisation.
Geoff warned us about the importance of protecting our personal space; to be aware of
people coming too close and taking advantage to “pick pockets” or remove jewellery. He
said that an increasing amount of crime is committted by women – not all are “damsels in
distress!”. Neighbourhood Watch relies on “Watching the Neighbourhood not watching the
Neighbours.” Take note of people in the street, of any unusual activity. However, be
careful with using CCTV. It is OK to have CCTV cameras in one's gardens but ensure they
are not focussed on activity outside of the garden gate. This is an infringement of “human
rights” and seriously frowned upon in Spain. Again, OK within a community with
community owner's consent. Finally, to be careful who is admitted into your property. If you
do not know the person, do not invite them in. Leave them ouutside the propoerty whilst
checking/verifying their identity. Even the police and Guardia Civil cannot come onto your
property without an invitation.
Finally Geoff said that the Neighbourhood Watch website has been changed – by “persons
unknown” to http://www.neighbourhoodwatchinspain.com . The website is to be revised as it is
not user friendly and is therefore not being kept up to date BUT it does have some useful
forms to download.
5. Update and questions from floor (pre-advised) - Iñaki Esparza Duque
Before the Police arrived Helen gave an update on reported crimes in our area:
Total incidents reported to us in 2017 - 44
Break-ins 20
Attempted break-ins 3
Suspicious women walking into houses 6
Stolen bikes 1
Theft from cars 2
Robberty on street 5
Begging 2
Suspicious men in cars 6
Obviously they do not reflect whole crime rate but I think we can see that house robberies
are still worryingly high.
We intend keeping these stats and also looking at where the incidents occur as it seems
that the Atalayas still have more than their fair share.
Here is the breakdown by area:
Rojales Hills 3
Atalaya 14
Benimar 6
Quesada 15
Rojales 6
The monthly breakdown is as follows:
Jan 3 Jul 0
Feb 10 Aug 9
Mar 3 Sep 7
Apr 0 Oct 5
May 1 Nov 1
Jun 1 Dec 4

Consult our website: http://www.neighbourhoodwatchinspain.com

Helen then welcomed Iñaki Esparza Duque chief of the Policía Local Rojales, Lordes
Lopez – Counsellor for Public security and oOfficer Sanchez of the Guardia Civil, Derek
Monks Counsellor for the International Community and José Ramon as interpreter.
Helen read a letter from Paul Price, President of Atalaya 14 regarding the many burglaries
and breakins affecting that area. Iñaki had received a translation.
Iñaki said that the Policia Local and Guardia Civil meet on a regular basis to exchange
information about crimes in the area. This is a new and ground-breaking change and they
have agreed to continue this on a weekly basis. They want to map the incidences of
crimes to see if a pattern exists and to put more resources into areas that need more
police activity. Counsellor Lopez said that she had requested a greater police presence in
the Quesada area.
A second question received from Margaret Hegarty regarding the confusing traffic signs at
the junction/cross roads between Avenida De los Regantes, Avenida Malaga and calle
Tarragona in Doña Pepa. Counsellor Lopez said that the intention is to put a roundabout
here to help the traffic flow but Rojales is awaiting permission and budget from the
Provincial council to be able to do this. They are looking to see if there is a short-term
solution in the meantime. Any changes will also require the permission of the Segura River
Authority as it will affect the flow/route of the irrigation canal.
Iñaki then took questions from the floor:
– A resident of Avenida Rio Tajo shares a house number with a plot of the same
number and is frequently disturbed by the Guardia looking for trouble-makers in the area
of the plot. The council will try to remove the confusion
- The question of squatters was raised. Derek said that only the owner of a property can
denounce squatters on their property. As many of the empty properties are banks
repossessions and they show little interest in the properties, it is very difficult to have the
squatters removed.
- an owner must make the denuncia
- a judge must make the eviction order
- once evicted, the property must be made secure.
– Are cyclists required to follow the law in the same way as motorists? YES and so
are skate boarders! It's a case of catching them red-handed. The Policia Local and
Guardia speak to pupils in the schools and also to the parents to point out the dangers of
not following the rules of the road in addition to talks about bullying, cyber bullying and
domestic violence.
- Some of the white lines on roads are becoming very worn.
Derek said that the European parliament has stipulated a specific type of non toxic paint to
be used which is so expensive it would use the entire budget to white line just on the
Avenida de las Regantes!
- Concern expressed about the high speed of some heavy construction vehicles along the
roads in Quesada. People are advised to make a written complaint via a specific form
“Instancia Genérica” available at the Municiipal Centre, - ask Maite or from the website
http://www.rojales.es .
Helen thanked the visitors for answering our queries and the meeting closed at 12.30

Date of Next Meeting – TBA
Like us on Facebook to keep in touch: Facebook.com/TalkQuesada
User avatar
Jan
Site Admin
 
Posts: 11193
Images: 164
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:34 pm
Which part of Spain are you from?: Lo Marabu Dona Pepa
Gender: Female






  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to Neighbourhood Watch

 
 

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

Login
Username:


Password:


Remember me


Forgot password?

Register now

Find in Quesada
What are you looking for in Quesada?: