That was a surprise,Jeff has something to put on his blog,shame most of it doesnt make sense.He makes up the Council ruling party,but as a PIPN,is trying to amend a Government Law,which is run by the people he supports on this Council,To that i say Jeff wake up and smell the coffee,you must know that you and a few other people have no chance of amending a Government Law,accept what it is because you will not get anything changed.As for the speed limit,you claim to of nearly been hit twice by hire cars at junctions,perhaps if you took more care of where and when you walk, or drive, it wouldnt of happened in the first place,and what has a speed limit got to do with somwone driving a car at a speed faster than he knows is safe for him to do so,regardless of limits these people will drive as they like.More to the point why dont you spend your time explaining to us mere mortals exactly which part of which roads the new limit applies,because at the moment I cant tell where they start and where they finish,and also why not use some of the white paint to show which road at crossroads have the right of way,all over the Urb and not in selected places,which itself causes confusion..Just a bit of general knowledge Jeff 30 KPH is in fact 18.64 MPH or just about the speed most people would ride a bicycle at on a flat road,or 4.5 times as fast as walking Finally what happened with the rules on Bars,all of a sudden La Marina Urb.is going to be over run by the National Police just as it normally is,yet the Council had an agreement with Valencia to sort out the so called problems of the Urbs. bars itself,what a fiasco this Council seems to be causing,all of a sudden the stopping of live music as midnight(in my opinion a reasonable time)which seemed like it would work,has suddenly meant most bars would (and in the past did)adhere to,so that the bar owners could and would be able to learn a living.All of a sudden we move onto health and safety in bars,something I have never heard you mention in the past,I now believe that one way or another you will keep trying to close down the Bars,and by doing so turn La Marina Urb into a wasteland.Worst of all you add a bit of unnessary rubbish at the end of your Blog stating the bars owners who do everything you want them to ,will be laughing because they will be busier as most bars will have to close because thet couldnt pay the fines imposed on them.I ask you have you asked these bar owners what they really think,or are you telling them what they will be allowed to think.my opinion Jeff,is next time you open your mouth put your brain in operation mode,(all the above is my personal opinion)

I would be interested to hear what Tommy has to say about Jeff's rant and rave at the bars and restaurants on his blog. All the work that Tommy did, with supposedly the aggreement of the PP ruling party on the council, has been completely undermined by the councillor for the urbanisations. Councillor Wisznieski you are a joke and everything has deteriorated since you were elected.

why don't you say what you really think roger!! I'm right there with you on your opinion of this ass

I really must laugh at this idiotic councillor's comment on the bar situation,.....He seems to be promoting the fully legal bars of which I think there are 3 or 4 in La Marina (soundproofing and late night licence) But I know for a fact that he uses and sings on karaoke in the bars which as I read it from weejohn's post above must certainly be illegal,....Talk about double standards !! I think all "non legal" bars should ban this fool,...he is interested in nothing but self promotion and preservation,....he can't even spell a 5 letter common last name correctly on my Mrs's certificate for the 5k charity walk,..I know it should not matter as all the money raised went to a good cause,...but I wonder if he ever makes an error when putting in his expenses bill for the p*ss poor job he does,....I think not!!!

If jeff ever bothers to check this post can I say well done as you have probably just managed to ostracize yourself from most people who live work and holiday in la marina
A politician works for the people who voted for them and encourages those who did not to view his practices that they may vote in favour at the next opportunity
This man has no idea of how council is kept and voters are appeased
Im afraid you have a megalomaniac representing you the voters on the urb
Is it my cynicism or does the councillor take to his blog to report these findings just as the presidents group were receiving high praise for their efforts.
Why someone else has to copy from a blog to this site is beyond belief
I would ask at this time to control the vitriol sometimes displayed on here as to possibly gain some further insight to this matter or we will be sitting on park benches with our carry outs as the councillor will have closed all the bars he doesnt go to
To the bar owners I wish you luck as obviously the local councillor has abdicated all responsibility for businesses in his constituency.

walkerhill,
Just to put you in the picture,Jeff was a regulat contributor to this forum ,when he first got a job (at our expense)on the Council,suddenly he realised that what he read on here,normally left him in a poor light,and what he wrote in reply normally left him looking like a bit short on the memory front.So he claimed that in futire he would not read or comment on this forum,but people would have to read his blog or visit him in the office,Unfortunately Jeff has poor body language,so meeting him face to face,you dont really believe him.Anyway his blog before the last couple of days had consisted of about three comments in over five months,I thought that was because he believed everything was hunky dory in La marina Urb.Obviously some one on his staff must of alerted him that the praise for sorting the bar problem out was being heaped on Tommy,and he probably thought we were an ungrateful bunch for not praising him enough,and so to punish us for being naughtly little children he is going to close our bars,and then he practically laught abouy it.

I dont want to keep harping on about Jeff,but
I have just noticed,probably very important.About one month ago Tommy wrote on this forum that Valencia were to allow San Fulgencio Country,the right to issue ENTERTAINMENT LiCENSES in the area.
This license was the only one of interest and the only one ever mentioned by the Bars the Council and the Residents.I wonder how many people noticed the subtle change by Jeff in his blog,We are not talking about the Entertainment License,but as he stated the most important license,which is the OPENING LICENSE(the what License you may well ask,because in past years this license was never mentioned)but our man in La Marina Urb. is now stating that is the reason the National Police will be trawling La Marina urb for the next week,To my mind someone or some(plural) people are trying to get our bars closed,and will trawl through all supposed licenses the Bars may have until they find one that actually closes them.Perhaps the Mayor should give his findings on what is and what is not happening to the Urb,(I understand his English is as bad as my Spanish,but I know at least one person in the Council Offices,Who would make a perfect translator for him.

It being so long since Jeff posted on his Blog that I wonder if this posting of mine earlier in the week possible put him back into action?????
The NEW Entertainment Licence

So there I am enjoying a quiet pint in a local bar, reading my favorite daily. I suddenly realised that an interesting conversation is going on at the bar, it was all about this new entertainment license, which I plus many others have been following up here on the forum. I must say to start with that I think Tommy had managed to so far do an excellent job on behalf of the Urbanization.
So back to conversation at the bar, first gripe was that the Council had not bothered to alert bar owners that the meeting was on, seems that it is seen as something that they should not be involved in, hence meeting was mainly via word of mouth and only 16 bar owners got to here about and attend.
So back to the bar, the conversation was restating how one bar owner (A*anda's Grey Area) at the meeting had firmly stated that they totally disagreed with the new entertainment license and that they would just ignore it as on there Karaoke nights they only more a less got started at midnight. What I also found of interest was that Jeff our Councillor for the Urb can often be heard there apparently singing at this late hour.
I so hope that this one some what irresponsible bar will not be causing problems for the rest of those that follow the rules.
I cant imagine that there are many of out here wanting entertainment to carry on into the small hours. None of us are into late night Disco's are we? But we do wont regular entertainment up to midnight for us and those on holiday

Regarding the new speed limit, I am in favour of reducing the speed limits around the urbanisation but if the speed is set too slow ie just over 18 miles an hour I believe people will not keep to that speed, at 18 mph you can't even get in 4th gear and I feel sure that 40 kph would have been better and still be safe.
I live on Calle Luis De Gongora near to Consum and people are driving at speeds well over 60 kph which I believe is stupid and only a matter of time before we have an accident, over 1 year a go I asked the council to put speed signs up and am still waiting. The junction markings are worn away and even though there was a serious accident last year when a mini bus was hit by a wagon and rolled over nothing has been done. Do we have to wait for a fatal accident before anything happens.

When we first had the meeting with the Mayor, Paulino and Jeff at our Presidents meeting, I brought up the subject of the Entertainment licence. Following the discussions, it was decided to get a petition going. Jeff actually volunteered to visit all of the bars with the petition.Three weeks after we started the petition (end of February) Jeff contacted me and asked for a meeting. He told me that he had been advised, by his legal advisors, not to do anything about getting a petition going, and that was the reason he had not done anything. He also said that we would need 500,000 names and NIE numbers for it to be valid. It was obvious that the conversation was getting more political. I told him that I was not interested in the politics and that I expected him to work with the Mayor about resolving this problem. Following our successful meeting in Alicante with the Valencian delegate, we had a follow up Presidents meeting with the Mayor, Jeff, Paulino and the Chief of Police.
At this meeting, Jeff actually admitted that he was wrong and apologised for his inaction.
In the last few weeks I have heard that Jeff, and people working in his office, are telling people that the new rules and guidelines will not work, and that it is a waste of time. If this is true, I will be looking into this, as he should be promoting all our hard work, not slagging it off.
Just to clarify the situation, the Town Hall cannot issue an actual Entertainment Licence, as the current law cannot be changed, hence the reason for the set of rules and guidelines. It will be very silly if any bars choose to ignore the rules. I keep saying this, but everyone has to comply. If they don't, everyone else will suffer, and consequently, La Marina.

Regarding the 30 kph speed limit.
In the UK and most of the rest of Europe, the speed limit for built up areas is 30 Mph. This equates to 48 kph.
It is a fact that modern cars are not built to drive at 30kph. The wear and tear on both vehicles and drivers is not acceptable. Why the residents of this urbanization are being penalized for the stupidity of some vacationers is beyond me. The entire urbanization is being held to ransom. Ridiculous speed limits like this will not stop the kind of people who tear around ignoring speed limits. Better to take the license plate number and let the police deal with it!
I agree that the paint would have been better used defining the road markings that do exist and remarking those that have faded. For heavens sake let some kind of sanity rule here! Raise the limit!

I attended the meeting at the social centre last week with regard to the music licence problem and the meeting months ago about the same problem. The subject of opening licences was brought up at the first meeting and I was very shocked to learn that of the 45 bars and restaurants on the urb only 15 of us have the correct licence in place. I did not have my opening licence right from the start of owning my bar, as I discovered that although having paid my solicitor to organise it for me he had done nothing about it. Therefore my very good landlord took matters into his own hands, paid for our electrics to be upgraded to give us the correct certificate and paid for our licence. We obtained a more comprehensive insurance policy and have a valid food licence, which I have been also shocked to learn that many businesses do not have on the urb. A food licence is required in the name of the bar owner not in the name of the bar even if so much as a simple sandwich is made for a customer or perhaps a buffet or bbq. I was told that if a bar/ restaurant changes hand the existing food licence ceases and the new owner must apply in their own name. Many people are misinformed when taking a bar on as to what should and should not be done.
What I don't understand is why some people think they are above the law over here in Spain? Ignorance doesn't make everything alright. We wouldn't get away with this in England. These licences are law.
When I read Jeff's excerpt from his blog I was a little surprised at his closing comments about us legal bars being 'happy' about the non legal bars being closed down. I certainly would not revel in anyone being fined 30,000E as your business is your livelihood. My business pays my mortgage and keeps a roof over my head as I'm sure is likewise for everyone else so why would I be happy to see someone lose all that? As for the extra revenue it could quite possibly work in reverse. If bars in my area are closed down people, who like to roam the bars of an evening, won't have the choice any longer so they may not bother to come to our part of the urb. It could have a huge negative impact on our trade.
The music licence laws will never be changed. Only sound proofed venues will be granted a proper licence at a huge price. Little bars like ours that still only charge a euro a drink could never afford such fees so how do we entertain our customers? We provide music at a sensible level at a sensible time. Mayor Carlos's rules that I received at the last meeting, which Tommy has posted for us all to see on this forum are not the law. He is just trying to help the bars with some sensible guidelines.
One last very interesting thing that I would like to point out that came out in the meeting last week is that the local police have now been instructed to visit the address from where a complaint is being made from first before visiting the venue to see if the complaint is justified. If the police are satisfied that it is a vindictive complaint the caller can now be fined for wasting police time. This is a huge positive for bars.
Keep you heads up guys, it's a tough old business to be in. Good luck to you all out there on the urb. Lets keep La Marina alive.
Kate

Well done Cagneys,As usual the voice of reason,No wonder you are my favourite Bar and Kate and Rickey,the best host and hostess in the area.I expected you to be one of the bars who wouldnt be laughing at other peoples expense,perhaps Jeff should visit you a few times and learn abit about Honesty and sensibility.

Can someone please copy and paste the link to the councillors blog.

Well said Cagney's and what a good idea to copy and post to our local councilman he needs to know what is really the feelings out there and do something after all we pay HIS wages.

Drove down Calle San Fulgencio yesterday and was overtaken by a mobility scooter and two push bikes. What can you say.

I have kept to the new speed limit, I can not get out of 2nd gear, a mobility scooter, was going fast then me. My passenger was waving at people as if she felt like the queen, as we where going that slow. and the cars behind me was not very happy, as I was causing a traffic jam. Going that slow can cause more accidents than going at 40 kilms an hours. who however thought 30 klms an hour is reasonable speed should try it for themselves as see how many traffic jams they cause. Happy driving on the Urb???????. I have just seen eve´s comment and after speaking to my hubby we are thinking of selling the car & buying a double mobility scooter for the Urb as they can go faster then the car.

Is it possible to publish what bars have an opening licence as it something they all claim to have. I would rather spend my money in a bar that is doing things properly rather than one that is cutting costs, that way it will be fairer on the legal bars that have invested the time and money..

Ok so a bar advertises a pint at €2 and next door offers €2.50 with a nice contract pinned to the wall, which one has the X factor?

Just driven up from bottom road to top of strip at 30KMH/H that in return equals 18.6MP/H.
Sprinters travel faster than that, kids ride the bikes faster than that an not to mention the constant fu&&ing changing gears from 3rd to 2nd when going over the bumps.
I recommend car drivers ignore this unless you want to visit your local garage. 40-45 KM/H is perfect.

If you have a modern and fuel efficient car, particularly a diesel and do not drive off the Urb or at higher speeds much (as many here don´t) you run a risk of serious and expensive damage to your cars engine by sticking to these new ridiculous (and illegal?) speed limits. try googling "blocked DPF" for an example.

Depends wether you are part of the community and want to see the area thrive or just want to save a few quid, for me its the legal bar every time. Thats why I left the UK to get away from all the immigrants breaking the law and getting away with it while I paid all my taxes. I wonder what the natives think?

EXACTLY!!!!!!'

The bars that are illegal are a drain on the area and your taxes pushing up the costs for others and they just want to make a quick profit then run otherwise they would be legal, support YOUR area and do the right thing

just drove up calle dublin at 30 kph & was overtaken by a jogger ,all joking aside on what evidence was this limit based ? or was it that our councillor had a couple of near misses we suffer .

Susan if the government take it into their heads to do away with all cars over 10 years old then I think a good many of us will be using mobility scooters. I was told this was mentioned in one of the free papers within the last 2 weeks. Not everyone can afford to buy newer cars. Perhaps if this law is brought into force then perhaps we could be expected to expect a better bus service?????????????

This should open a new can of worms and will need to be perused carefully. DISCUSS!
Jun 3, 2013 - 9:30 PM by Howard Brereton
The DGT traffic department is today (June 4 2013) presenting to Congress a new reform of the ‘General Rules of Circulation’ document, the equivalent to the British Highway Code.Among the changes are alterations to some speed limits, both up and down, and allowing bicycle riders to go down the wrong way in a one-way street.The Director of the DGT, María Segui, is to make the presentation to Congress and the new Highway Code will adapt to the new reality where pedestrians and cyclists take more importance than before.Segui said that there was 95% agreement in the traffic department for the new code compared to full consent achieved by her predecessor, Pere Navarro.She could not say when the code would come into effect because that depends on the modification of the Road Safety Law, but she said the change would be very soon.
There are nine main changes:
1. Speed.The speed limits will be modified either up or down.The most controversial part of the new code is the lifting the speed limit to 130km/h on straight sections of motorways. ‘It will be exceptional and restricted’ said the traffic chief. Panels will be used to change the speed limit in bad weather conditions, for example.On conventional roads, the speed limit will go down from 100 to 90 when the road is more than 6.5 m wide. If it is narrower than that the speed limit will be 70 km/h.
In the cities where the maximum speed was 50 km/h,that will be reduced to 30 km/h which will be the speed on all two way city roads. But if the inner city road has only one direction the speed limit will be 20km/h to protect pedestrians and cyclists.
2. Bicycles. The most controversial part in this section is the new obligation for bicycle riders to wear a helmet when in the city. Cyclists, the opposition parties and some 20 town and city halls have opposed this saying it will cut down on the number of cyclists, but Segui says there is no way back.Cyclists will now be able to cycle on the pavement provided it is more than 3 metres wide and their speed is limited to 30km/h.
3. Seat Belts. All the previous reasons for not wearing a seatbelt have been removed with just two exceptions left. When you are parking or reversing you can take you seat belt off. Before taxi drivers, merchandise deliverymen, and the drivers of passenger vehicles were allowed not to wear a seat belt, but no longer.
4. Child’s seats. If the child is 1 meter 35 tall or less he or she must travel in the back seat. Those aged under four must use the adequate seat for their weight
5. Radar Detectors. The new law expressly prohibits the use of radar detectors, some which recently have been capable of detecting mobile detectors. The GPS systems which warn you about any fixed radar will still be allowed and the DGT prints on its website the location of these fixed radar points.
6. Drugs. The new code brings in a saliva test for the detection of drugs while driving. The person who is stopped can ask for a complementary blood test which he will have to pay for if the result is positive.
7. Pedestrians. In the old code pedestrians were obliged to walk on the right hand pavement in the direction they were walking. Those who walked on the left pavement would have to give way to those approaching.The no stopping signs are to be removed, in an attempt to keep traffic fluid, stopping will only be allowed to get in and out of the vehicle and at zebra crossings.
8. The Overtaking Markings. The new law says the riders of motorbikes, mopeds and pushbikes can overtake but only inside the central line of the road, circulating with precaution between the rest of the vehicles.
9. RV vehicles. Until now where RV vehicles could park depended on the decision of the local council, but now their parking will be limited, presumably to special areas, as the dimensions of these vehicles affects other car parking. Once parked the RV driver and passengers must not set up outside the perimeter of the vehicle and must not dump any fluids or connect to any electricity supply.

Trying to read all this info, Peter are you saying the new laws are likely to be, that as a Cyclist I can travel on a pavement, which is intended for pedestrians, as long as it is wide enough, at 30 kph. But as a motorist, in the same city, I will only be able to travel at 20 kph, and then only if a pedestrian is not walking in my way. It think it would be better if they introduced Park & Ride or perhaps Park & Cycle. It seems to me that the people who are paying for the upkeep of the roads are going to be the last people considered in this stupid fiasco. I am in no way condoning people who drive along at reckless speeds but, there has to be sense and reason to everything.

The above won't make any difference to the recent graffiti on the roads around here as they refer to carriageways constructed legally within DGT rules. But I have been advised not to go over 30 unless its one of the bits that the trafico authoritys say is ok to drive at 50 on.....
Oh no thats all of the urb..... check out the sign on the road in to the Urb that says "50 todos los carraterras: