For the centre-right, he is running for mayor again in Brisighella Massimiliano Pederzoli with the civic list “For the good governance of Brisighella” and with a team partly confirmed (with in particular the presence of Senator Marta Farolfi) and partly renewed.
Interview with Massimiliano Pederzoli: “Interventions on roads and degradation were fundamental for the relaunch of the entire valley”
Pederzoli, what leads you to run again? What is political commitment for you?
I would still like to give my best to help our community grow, especially after the flood, and I want to give continuity to the work done so far. I do politics because I like to make the organizations I administer grow, it gives me great satisfaction. Coming to the re-nomination, in general I don’t like retreats, but advances. We must always do more and better, especially in the areas of the environment, agriculture, leisure and tourism.
What Brisighella did you find when you settled in? And what Brisighella are you leaving?
The situation of the territory, in particular linked to roads, was in a state of almost abandonment. The historic center of the village also had several areas of decay. In recent years we have worked on the road network, fixing over 60 kilometers of municipal roads, investing 2.6 million euros. And there is still a lot to do: with the next mandate we plan to intervene on just as many avenues. Our objective is that this attention to traffic is consolidated over time: it is fundamental for transport, tourism and services.
The interventions, however, are not limited to this: when I arrived there wasn’t even a LED lighting system, and 300 thousand euros were invested. Now we intend to continue the energy redevelopment process, following the example of via Maglioni. We then obtained 1.3 million euros in funding to work on 39 landslides that had been present in the valley for years and had never been repaired. The work carried out was carried out with care, so much so that these landslides did not reopen with the flood.
We come right to the flood. It will be an important challenge in the coming years.
We can proudly say that a few days after the flood we had already reopened 48 roads, in record time. This is also thanks to the availability of the companies. For the future, the commissioner structure has recognized approximately 140 million euros to restore the damage caused to roads, bridges and public buildings. An urgent work package worth around 35 million has already been drawn up.
One of the great themes for the future is that of the decline in birth rates and the depopulation of mountain areas.
We have demonstrated with facts that we care about maintaining the facilities and services throughout the valley. We managed to complete the Marzeno school, which risked becoming a cathedral in the desert. After the closure of the Emiliani convent we decided to reopen the Farfalla in Fognano: this too was practically abandoned and in 2020 it reopened as a nursery school and now we have obtained funding to open a nursery which will guarantee 14 places. In recent days we have finished the construction of a school module in San Martino paid for by the National Civil Protection 270 thousand euros and will be inaugurated on 3 June. Once its use has ended, it will remain available to the Municipality. As regards the old damaged school, the aim is to have the children return there through a 700 thousand euro loan from the Civil Protection. It will take a few more years.
Young people struggle to see a future in the valley.
I think this is a baseless rumor spread ad hoc by the left. In the last year our municipality has grown by 32 inhabitants, and there are young families who choose to want to live in Brisighella for many reasons: the good life, the possibility of excursions and walks. It is an alternative model to big cities that we must make the most of. There are around forty associations dedicated to free time in the area which offer many opportunities. And tourism data is also growing, in recent years we have launched several new events. For the municipal swimming pool, we are in the home stretch: if all goes well we would like to purchase the area and also install a bike bar there.
He talked about the environment and hiking. On the Carnè park it was said that the Municipality wants to remove its support quotas.
As a Municipality we have always contributed our share to support the park. I just wanted clarity on how the costs were shared.
One of the pillars of the valley’s economy is agriculture. What can the Municipality do here?
I will be frank: to resolve the fundamental issues related to agriculture, the discussion scenario is not the municipal one, but the European one. It is there that the future is truly decided. As an Administration, what we can do is encourage the different crops as much as possible, from the intensive ones in the valley bottom to those in the high hills, encouraging the parallel activity of farmhouses and B&Bs with which we must work increasingly in synergy. The flood then made it clear how important it is to support the work of farmers to guarantee care of the territory, as seen with the cleaning of the banks. The Region has not always demonstrated its ability to understand their needs.
It is difficult to see, particularly in Brisighella, a constructive political dialogue between the parties. We often see others only as ‘enemies’. How come? Can anything be done about it?
Brisighella was a crack in the centre-left dam in our province. It was thought that the PD brand was enough to be elected and that the “building” was theirs alone. From here there was incredible hatred towards me and what you say about the political debate follows. I relaunch on the programs and on the asphalting of the roads. Then if interesting suggestions arrive from the other side in the political debate, we are ready to correct course.
