Colonies, we have bound the degradation
A few days ago I came across the newspaper “Il Terzo, Miramare news” from September-October 1992. It was an editorial initiative of the cultural association il “Terzo” of Miramare of the late Vinicio Vergoni, soul of the left for decades , in that territory.
In that issue there was an interview with the then urban planning councilor of the Municipality of Rimini Sergio Gambini. 1992 is an important year for politics. The center-left returns to government of the city with mayor Giuseppe Chicchi after the five-party coalition of mayors Conti and Moretti. 1992 is the year of the establishment of the new province of Rimini.
Let’s go back to Gambini’s interview which talks about the colonies in the area Marano (Bolognese, Novarese as well as the colonies in the municipality of Riccione). Gambini writes “I believe that the Marano area is a kind of monument to slowcracy”. In the piece Gambini complained about the delays in urban planning to start up the colonies. He hoped for the transfer of ownership of Novarese from the Emilia-Romagna Region to the Municipality of Rimini. At the time, the idea was to build a cinema center with attached screening rooms in the Novara colony.
Some of those requests were realized, such as the passage of the Novarese into the property of the Municipality of Rimini or the project ”city of colonies” which involves the municipalities of Rimini and Riccione in a unitary urban planning project. However, everything else remained unchanged.
Since then, 32 years have passed and for a citizen who passes through that area everything is as before. Of course there have been attempts at redevelopment, the Novarese did not become a wellness center and a quality hotel due to the bankruptcy of Coop7. After several changes of ownership, La Bolognese is now in the hands of private individuals who intend to build a hotel. Even in the Riccione area there were attempts to start the colonies, all of which failed. In Rimini the Murri colony was supposed to become an innovative entertainment center which never saw the light of day due to the bankruptcy of Valdadige.
The fact is that on the tourist front line, near the sea, we have only degradation with the colonies. The only “recovered” colony is the Comasca which has become a school, as are the other two active colonies in Marebello.
In the province of Rimini alone there are 20 colonies bound by the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Ravenna and the Emilia-Romagna region. Some have been recovered like the Cattolica ships but many others are in a state of abandonment.
The Municipality of Rimini has asked that the Enel colonies be removed from the regional restriction (it is not subject to restrictions from the Superintendence because it was built in 1950). It will be demolished to make room for the “Sea park”. Well. very well indeed. But the other colonies are bound by the Superintendency and the regional landscape territorial plan.
I believe that after many years the Region, together with the Superintendence and the coastal municipalities, must carry out a serious reconnaissance of the situation of the colonies, reducing the restricted ones and finding solutions for those to be recovered, because they are an important testimony of a tourist period on our coast. In this case, public funding is also necessary to support private investments. Otherwise the bond will continue but of degradation and certainly not of recovery, testimony and beauty.
Former Police Headquarters, well done Mayor Jamil Sadegholvaad
This week there was an important communication from the mayor to the majority groups on the ongoing negotiations regarding the former police station in via Ugo Bassi. The main obstacle has always been the size of the commercial area planned in the former police headquarters. Asi (current owner of the area) has proposed 1,500 m2 of sales, plus 4,500 m2 of warehouses and logistics. The Municipality has always rejected the proposal, considering it a ‘Trojan horse’ to create a sort of disguised Amazon. The owners have always denied wanting to build a logistics hub.
Last December 7, Asi proposed (in a surprise move) to the Municipality that it wanted to give up 17,600 of the 23,773 square meters purchased at auction for 14.5 million euros in summer 2021, to build only 6,000 (the controversial ones) and to give over three hectares of areas to the Municipality free of charge.
Now the negotiation concerns precisely this dimension. Instead of 6 thousand m2 it could reach just over 5 thousand m21500 m2 of sales area (the supermarket) and just over 3,500 m2 of warehouses and logistics.
If it were closed in this way it would be a success for the mayor and for the city which has made the public interest prevail. I remember that in this way Asi renounces the plan initially presented which envisaged:
- 7,950 m2 of private and public residence with agreement
- 1000 m2 of a kindergarten (to be built by the Municipality)
- 4,500 m2 of student accommodation (built and managed by a private individual)
- 1,000 m2 of a library (funded by the University of Bologna)
- 6,000 m2 of university center (which was to build the university)
- 1,500 m2 of supermarket
- 4,500 m2 of warehouses and logistics
Now if we remove the so-called public functions (sale of areas for kindergarten and public housing), a student residence that is not needed in that area (we have accommodation facilities that can be converted) and much less a university centre, the heart of the intervention concerned two numbers:
- 7,950 m2 of residential buildings (both affiliated and private)
- 6,000 m2 of supermarket and logistics
If the deal, as the newspapers write, only concerns the supermarket and logistics part, eliminating the residential part, it seems to me to be an excellent solution for the redevelopment of the area with clear public interest.
Bonaccini with his shirt unbuttoned is a scandal for Carlo Rufo Spina of Fratelli d’Italia
There is no limit to the ridiculous. With a post on his Facebook page, the Rimini right-wing municipal councilor takes issue with the look of the President of the Region Stefano Bonaccini and leader of the European elections in the north-east constituency. Rufo Spina writes: “This person who appears on television on Rai1 without a tie, with 2 buttons on his shirt unbuttoned so as to show his bare chest in the worst rude attitude and who speaks with “oh” and other verses is – it would be – a regional president (in addition to be president of the Democratic Party). This is – it would be – the ruling class of the left. I feel annoyed and embarrassed by the dignity of the institutions.”
Yes. We agree that at this moment we often feel embarrassed and annoyed by the dignity of the institutions. But not for Bonaccini’s look, which honestly seems completely appropriate to a television show. But personally I feel annoyed by the dignities of institutions when:
- A minister (Daniela Santanchè) who with a request for indictment for aggravated fraud against the INPS remains in his position.
- The president of the Liguria Region Toti is under house arrest and will not resign.
- Carlo Fidanza candidate for the European elections for Fratelli d’Italia who has settled for one year and 4 months for corruption. About waiting for the third level of judgment (in this case there was, but he was re-nominated anyway)
- A meeting between the Prime Minister and a life prisoner definitively convicted of murder in the United States.
I could go on. Rufo Spina leave Bonaccini’s look alone and deal with embarrassing and annoying situations for the institutions in your home. You have much work!
Maurizio Melucci
The photo of the scandal for Rufo Spina (from his Facebook page)
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