«Following the press release made by the municipal councilor of Pescara for Sport, Patrizia Martelli, it is our duty, as residents who signed the petition of the “Colle Breccia” sports facility, to highlight that the facts narrated do not exactly correspond to the truth».
This is what we read in a note through which citizens reconstruct, from their point of view, the key steps of the story that led Mayor Carlo Masci to cancel the resolution that allowed managers to cover sports fields with tensile structures.
«In December 2023», the note continues, «the residents of Colle Breccia learned that, among other things, 5 covered padel courts with a fixed structure 11.50 meters high would be built as envisaged by the project, approved by council resolution number 868 of 16 November 2023. Work which, among other things, had already begun with the construction of the five-a-side football field, covered beach volleyball court and demolition of the changing rooms without the appointment of the works director and tester (which took place at the end of January 2024) , noise impact (study dated end of February 2024) and environmental authorization (granted at the end of March 2024). At the city council meeting on 28 December 2023, at the insistence of the minority, the residents were listened to who explained their reasons and the mayor undertook to have a meeting with a representative of the residents, the concessionaire and himself. On 23 January 2024, the petition was presented signed by over 300 people who asked the mayor and the council to work to ensure that the aforementioned critical issues were resolved either with the non-construction of the padel courts and related coverage or with a different location not to close to the PE2 L4-L5 condominium, and neighboring buildings, that the environmental impact of the intervention be verified and assessed according to compliance with existing constraints, finally that the safety of the road system and accessible mobility be assessed, or as a final rationale cancel in self-protection the resolutions indicated in question”.
Then the signatory residents continue: «On 24 January 2024, at the request of the opposition, the guarantee committee was held in which the residents highlighted to the Rup (sole person responsible for the procedure), Angelo Giuliante, and to the Sports councilor, Patrizia Martelli, the lack of the aforementioned authorizations and that the works had already been started and some already completed. In fact, in the minutes dated 23 November 2023, the Rup had authorized the concessionaire to only carry out the cleaning which, among other things, had begun in the summer of 2023. Not having received any summons from the mayor or measures following the meeting of 24 January 2024, on 21 March 2024, at the request of the opposition, another guarantee commission was held in which neither the Rup, Angelo Giuliante, nor the sports councilor, Patrizia Martelli, and the president of the city council Marcello Antonelli were present, yes committed that in the next council meeting on March 28, 2024, the motion for a meeting between residents, politicians and the concessionaire would be approved. Following the motion approved in the city council of 2 April 2024, the long-awaited meeting took place on 12 April 2024, during which, with Martelli also present, the mayor Carlo Masci asked the concessionaire to move the ball from the football fields padel from the side of the square, as requested in the petition filed on 23 January 2024. The concessionaire, claiming to have all the necessary authorizations as per the project approved by the municipal council on 16 November 2023, confirmed to go ahead with the works. To the concessionaire’s statements, the majority politicians present declared that they had done everything possible to accept the petition but could do nothing in the face of the refusal of the successful tenderer. At this point the representatives of the residents’ committee pointed out that the project is in conflict with the rules of the master plan of the Municipality of Pescara, and specifically with article 51, and in particular with regard to the distances of the building with arches in wood and PVC closing sheet, as well as the coverings which in total must not exceed 1/10 of the total surface area of the sports facility. Following these concerns, raised by the residents, Mayor Carlo Masci mandated the director of Public Works and the Rup to investigate the problem further, which ended with the self-defense cancellation of council resolution number 868/2023, the correct council provision number 400 of 2 May 2024″.
This is the conclusion of the residents who signed the petition: «If it had not been for the residents who signed the petition to highlight that the project approved with council resolution number 868/2023 is in clear contrast with the Prg (general master plan) the works would have been carried out in total violation of the rules. Cancellation in self-defense presupposes that the act to be canceled is illegitimate. Consequently, stating that the step backwards arises from listening to citizens, in addition to not being true, denotes a worrying lack of preparation on the part of the councilor for the most elementary rules that even the more unprepared public administrator should know”.
