We receive and publish a note signed by the Active Citizenship associations OIKOS Trani APS – Association of Exposed Asbestos and risks to health BAT – Codacons local branch of Trani – Civic Movement Art.97 Trani – UILDM Section of Trani. Topic, the municipal villa:
«The associations signing this request, all bearers of widespread interests and registered in the environmental consultation, represent the following:
the environmental consultation has not met for over six months now and the reasons for it are not known, which is why the participatory process which had been started with the councilor Amoruso, was nipped in the bud.
Among other things, there is difficulty in identifying, both within the consultation and outside as active participants in the world of associations, political and managerial figures who fully represent all the problems that revolve around urban greenery, as well as in detail listed during the conference organized by Dr. Giovanni Guerra, agronomist and editor of the public green census, on 6 June.
In fact, if it is true that there is a problem linked to the maintenance of the greenery – pruning techniques, felling and maintenance or rather CARE of the greenery – there is also a problem linked to the planning of the new greenery to be put in place to replace what has been and is being demolished, if not even created from scratch.
The green regulations, filed for some time, are missing, the content of which is unknown and it seems that it is currently the subject of adjustments within the structure that deals with green maintenance, which however does not have any figure specialized in botany within it, arboriculture and agronomy and once again without the involvement of environmental associations.
One cannot fail to compare this lack of involvement with what is happening instead for the drafting of the new regulation for the occupation of public spaces, where the trade associations have intervened at the consultation table.
Therefore, the Municipality’s organic plan lacks one or more figures who would create a real green office, which would give technical indications and carry out constant checks during maintenance by the company in charge. We rely on surveyors or engineers who have good will, but not specific skills.
There is a lack of real programming and planning of the greenery, so as trees that have reached the end of their life prematurely due to incorrect maintenance are eliminated, they are gradually replaced with criteria and with correct timing, then taking care that they are looked after correctly and not destined to premature death, such as those planted in the former pine forest in via Andria, in the car park of the commercial activities in via Barletta and in the new park in via delle Tufare, whose trunks show damage from the brush cutter and are destined for death.
This is based on the premise that the right environmental protests and the conferences held by associations and the agronomists’ association lead to a real turning point in the management of greenery in the city, which is currently lacking.
This year marks the bicentenary of the municipal villa, a true jewel which represents a unique example, being a hanging garden overlooking the sea, a place not only of beauty but also a meeting place for all those seeking relief from the summer heat, being the the only real tree-lined green space in the city, if we exclude Villa Bini in a total state of decay and abandonment and Villa Telesio still closed to the public.
Today the municipal villa is in trouble:
trees of little value or even weeds, which should be gradually replaced with quality essences;
poor and/or absent irrigation;
suffering holm oaks along the main avenue;
not to mention the worrying situation of the wall from the Frederick era, which features showy caves which we do not know whether they are monitored or not, also in order to avoid dangers to public safety, much more serious than just the damage to the wall facing which in itself it is a very serious thing.
The offices to which this is addressed are asked to open a consultation table, to define the urgent interventions to be carried out and their timing and, in any case, to implement all the urgent interventions aimed at avoiding further damage to the wall facings and the embankment behind, with consequent risk of collapses that could involve the public garden.
The municipal offices in charge are asked to proceed with prevention interventions on the holm oaks of the municipal villa which are already suffering and in view of the arrival of the great summer heat, urgently carrying out the endotherapy treatment on the holm oaks, having ascertained that it is the only method that can prevent damage from red cochineal. It would be desirable that the same was also carried out on other holm oaks present in the city, especially on the beautiful centuries-old specimen present in via Togliatti, perhaps worthy of being included among the monumental trees of the Puglia region, where it meets the requirements.
We are also asked to prepare a redevelopment project for the municipal villa, to honorably celebrate the bicentenary.
Access to documents is requested pursuant to the legislation on generalized access to documents, of the following documents:
- green regulations filed by Dr. agronomist Valeria Fortunato
- Plan of interventions to replace felled trees with a timetable
- Geognostic and geophysical investigations project and geological report of the walls of the municipal villa
Trusting in your attention and sensitivity towards the topics listed above, we send our best regards”.
