Legal Action Commences............

Bad Debts still increasing............

Bad Debts



The old bad debts are just not being collected as we are told by the previous President that Resortalia no longer has the contact details for the majority of individual owners. 

This is just not good enough and is why we insist on knowing how many cases are contactable and have been progressed through the courts. As usual, this information is not forthcoming!

2014 March News Feed...................

2014 March News Feed............

Overview

EUCC
We are fast approaching the AGM's following the screw-ups of the EUCC EGM when the Sub Community Presidents were asked to vote on matters that they were never appointed for. Nevermind, we now have an AGM of the EUCC in March so that they can be formally appointed!

Madness or what?

And where are the official EGM minutes of the meeting and will they ever be published?


Debtors
All the president and Committee had to do over the last 12 months was to focus on collecting the debts instead they have managed to triple the debtors to 1 MILLION EUROs over the last 2 years!

Madness or what?



EUCC EGM v AGM

EGM January 2014:




AGM proposals March 2014:

Debtors

So what has happened over the last 12 months? We stated the following issues some year ago and it is clear little or no progress has been made:

• The ever increasing level of debtors with insufficient reporting of summary case details and tracking. What was 350,000 euros of debtors 2 years ago is now 1 MILLION EUROS, a complete nightmare and still increasing.

• Over expenditure in the general community participation which is not shown in the sub community financial statements. Resortalia continue to send out meaningless financial information which is of no use to anyone.

• Potential changes to the statutes of the community without prior sub community approval. Continued drag and change of direction by the Committee without full explanations or information sharing. The proposed EUCC Statutes change is a clear example whereby the approved statutes have never been translated to all owners.

• Participation of all owners in the EUCC public areas and compliance with the EUCC Statutes. At least we have an AGM even though an EGM was held beforehand with SCPs that were never elected! Dont suppose the golf course will now start paying their community fees??????????

• Security of information and compliance with data protection regulations. None existent as usual

• Competitive tendering of all key contracts with service level agreements in place for performance monitoring. We now, so we are informed, have SLAs in the gardening contract although all owners have yet to see the SLA or even the contract!!!!!

• Appropriate realistic compensation and resolution to the building structure issues. We have an imposed settlement although PW have again not paid the first instalment. What a complete waste of time and clearly shows how out of their depth the Committee are. Still no repainting of the buildings 7 years after they were built!

• The water runoff issues to the sports area car park need to be resolved together with the removal of the floodlights. No progress yet again for another year!

• The workers compound needs to relocated as per the submitted Resort plans and replanted or screened off.
  No progress yet again for another year!

• The chemical risks identified within the resort require immediate actioning. More material concerns highlighted with yet no further progress!

• The eroding hills in front of the Sub Communities need to addressed ASAP especially in light of the recent earthquake.
  No progress yet again for another year!

• The sinking and cracking swimming pools. The cracks are still there and there is no money to fix the problems!

• The desert conditions in which the Resort is built needs to drive a sustainability plan on how we use less brought-in resources and assess alternatives such as LED lighting, solar energy and rain run-off capture. No progress yet again for another year!

So overall a complete disaster having spent yet another 3m euros within the resort and seen debtors rising to 1m. 

 

It is as if we have given the Committee the keys to the "sweet shop" and they have fully enjoyed their time together. 

Now is the time to hold the Committee to account and to push the one key issue throughout the whole resort:  

DEBTORS

 

DEBTORS

 

DEBTORS

 

What is the purpose of a Sub Community President?

It is now a number of years that we, as owners, have been  Sub Community Presidents and in all of that time we have never been asked to vote on any aspect of the community apart from the election of a phase president.  Another Sub Community President has also told us in five years he has never received any communications from his owners until recently. Other presidents have also clearly stated that they were appointed to the committee as no else volunteered and someone had to do it to make up the numbers although they would prefer not to be involved.

Some of the 9 out of 78 sub community presidents who make up the Committee believe that they are the only wise people who know best and accordingly the remaining 69 sub community presidents are never directly communicated too, never asked for their advice and opinions and never included in the voting process for the community.

This is probably fair enough on mundane matters however on new debtor’s policies, Resortalia retendering, lift contract and gardening contract renewals etc which are the direct responsibility of each sub community president, then this is uncalled for and should be challenged in the spirit of open and honest transparency.

However, any criticism of the "wise" 9 is just not acceptable and even when a sub community president raises an owner’s issue affecting the community, which they are fully entitled too either under the statutes or HPA, then they are banned from communicating this any further amongst fellow owners.

In conclusion, not really a democratic open and transparent process.

2012 Resort President manifesto

2012 Resort President manifesto

This is a good opportunity to remind all owners of the 2012 Resort President manifesto:

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To all Phase Presidents, Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort:                                                               Jan 2012

Resort Presidency

It is, by now, common knowledge that I have put my name forward for consideration as the next Resort President. I am conscious that it may be seen that I have been in the background during the last year so I want to take some time to advise you of what I can and cannot bring to the presidency and my thinking for the forthcoming year. If this sits well with your thinking then I will welcome your support but if you believe that it is not right for the resort then I will perfectly well understand and make way for somebody else and give them my unreserved support.

To start with the positives:

Rachel and I are totally committed to HR having placed the order for our apartment before the first sod had been turned. We plan to become permanent HR residents in November 2012 although the fact that my employer is still trying to retain my full time services and the health of aged parents may affect the timing.

We welcome the concept of adopting Spanish culture and would wish to integrate the various nationalities represented within HR into a semblance of “Spanishness”. We are not interested in being in a little bit of England in Spain and will do all we can to avoid anglicising our resort. I have already been in contact with some of the Spanish community in an effort to establish relationships for the future.

We bought in to the concept of a 5* complex and although, like so many, are deeply disappointed that PW did not deliver on their promises, intend to do our best to ensure that we improve the quality and standards of our resort so that the value of all our properties will increase and that those who need rental income will have first class facilities to sell.  

Professionally, I am a Chartered Management Accountant who works for a food logistics company as its Finance Director and Company Secretary. My remit includes Accountancy, Computer Services and Human Resources. In the past I spent three years as deputy chair of the governors of our local college of further education. I believe these skills and experiences will be very relevant to HR’s needs.      

There has been a lot of recent activity on the owners forum relating to costs and standards so I will lay out my position in relation to these:

Debtors

Professionally, when it comes to debtor management, I could be described as a hard-liner. I expect to have fully annotated debt lists on my desk by the 2^nd of each month and my credit controller knows what to expect if she cannot answer any questions. I expect our resort administration to adopt the same standard and will be pressurising Resortalia to improve on their performance if they are to have any chance of being retained in to the future.

The policy on debtors has been clearly stated and was cascaded through the Phase and Block President on the 20^th May 2011. It is tough but fair and I do not see any reason to change it.  

I understand that some owners may have temporary (or even not so temporary) difficulties in meeting their responsibilities to the community but the responsibility remains with the owner and any delay is simply not fair on the rest of the owners.

Despite examples of bank and Resortalia errors, most payments are made properly and most direct debit failures have one simple cause. Our procedures allow time for the correction of errors but, fundamentally, late payments will be liable to penalty charges.

Obtaining payment by direct debit is by far the most efficient and cost effective method of collecting community fees and I will not advocate any change.

Contracts

I will not be a party to any breach of contracts. Michael and his negotiating team have performed minor miracles in managing to reduce contract costs on all our contracted services so I would intend that these should all be allowed to run through to their completion. It goes without saying that all the contractors will be performance monitored and any failings brought to the attention of the committee for discussion and, if necessary, action.      

In house services

There has been a lot of discussion regarding self administration and direct employment of services such as gardening and resort administration. My intention would be to use the time afforded by having the existing contracts in place to thoroughly research the cost effectiveness of taking specific services in house. I have no pre-conceived ideas as to the viability of these but intend to bring to the discussions whatever skills and experience we have within the resort. I would expect to prepare a paper on each service and present options and recommendations to the owners at the appropriate time.  

Resort Administration

I am not a great fan of Resortalia as there are aspects of their performance which are frustrating and, despite Michael’s constant efforts, still needs to be improved. That said, their quote for the next 12 months is competitive so, on the basis of better the devil you know, I would recommend retaining their services for the next 12 months. As stated in the previous paragraph, I would expect to be considering options well before the next renewal.  

Gardens

One of our biggest quandaries is that PW has left us with a legacy of manicured lawns. To British eyes, these lawns look marvellous but, in Spain, they are an alien species. They are high maintenance and cost a fortune to irrigate.  If memory serves, the lawns were designed as a feature of the resort at the time when PW were intending to build a desalination plant which would have provided relatively cheap and plentiful irrigation water. Unfortunately, like so many PW promises, the desalination plant has failed to materialise so we have a legacy of thirsty lawns demanding increasingly expensive and scarce resource.         

The current committee has already prepared some groundwork with STV (the gardening contractor) with a view to replacing some of the lawned areas with less high maintenance plants and have quotes for some proposals. There appears to be scope for investment in other types of ground cover which would have varying pay-back periods. It would be my intent to have a gardens committee to study these proposals and make recommendations for any further action.

General facilities

I am not in favour of stripping amenities simply on the basis of cost cutting. That said I expect to review the cost effectiveness of each facility with the aim of ensuring we get proper value for money for them. During the last twelve months, we have identified examples of suspect costings which means that I intend to continue to verify numbers before making any hasty decisions.

Constitution

The original constitution, which currently remains in place was prepared by PW and, understandably, was written to best suit them. What was best fit for PW is very likely not to be the best fit for our community and our constitution has been the subject of much adverse comment in the forums. Accordingly, Michael has been instrumental in setting up a review panel with the aim of presenting a revised constitution upon which we, the owners, can make an informed decision sometime in the near future. It would be my intention for this invaluable work to be completed.

Planning

Despite the part of the community’s rules that forbid any modification which affects the outside of an individual property, there are signs that some owners are modifying the exterior of their properties without obtaining the prior approval of the Planning Committee. It should be noted that the community’s management has the legal authority to demand that any unauthorised development be removed at the owner’s expense. The danger is that continuing unregulated modifications will ruin the look of the resort so the Planning Committee is vitally important to ensure that we retain the coherent look of our buildings. For the last two years, the Planning Committee, which is a volunteer but un-elected body, has done sterling work but has operated completely independently of the elected general committee which is a situation with which I am not entirely comfortable. Accordingly it would be my intent to give teeth to the Planning Committee by nominating one of the general committee to join it.      

Anti social behaviour

Anti social behaviour has reared its ugly head during the last twelve months and when it happens, it makes life thoroughly unpleasant for those caught up in it. Despite the risk of recriminations, I would have no hesitation in seeking to attempt to gain moderation on the part of offending parties as a community such as ours depends upon sound social inter-reaction between neighbours.

How will it all work?

So, that is my view of HR. So how am I going to achieve this when I am resident in the UK?

Well, it is going to be difficult but not insurmountable.

Michael has done a huge amount of work during his tenure and has laid the foundations for a much more streamlined management and without this groundwork, proper remote Presidency would not be workable.

As it is, I have been fortunate in that colleagues on the committee, friends and neighbours have expressed support and a willingness to be my eyes and ears. With those talents in support, I have every confidence that we came overcome the disadvantage of my temporary UK residency. Amongst the offers of support, I am grateful to Michael Corke, Ron Locke, Antonio Escalera, Ann Dyos, Viv Church, Allan Pattemore, David Bamford, Manuel Gonzalez, Carole Eteson and Ena Glover.

Language

It had been my intention to use the first months of my retirement to get to grips with learning Spanish and lowering my handicap. I still intend to succeed with the former but will have to put the latter on the back burner. In the meanwhile, I have been promised offers of help to overcome my linguistic shortcomings.

Communications

I am not of the social networking generation so do not use facebook or post on forums and neither do I tweet.

Because I am not resident, I would need the active support of the Phase and Block Presidents and part of this is including them in the communication process.

I intend to cascade information through the Resort’s hierarchy which means that Block Presidents will be a fundamental part of the information flow. The HPA makes the first level of responsibility that of the Block President so it is my belief that there is a need to get them to buy in to the concept of being a part of that communication process.

This message is effectively a test of how that might work.

I am sending this to the Phase Presidents with the request that they cascade it to their Block Presidents for onward transmission to their owners.

If this procedure does not work, then I fear that neither will my Presidency which, in turn, may require a rethink on how we move forward.

Many thanks for your patience in reading thus far.

Kindest regards,

Nigel

One Million Debtors and rising

EGM

At the EGM of the EUCC, held on the 8th January 2014, the proposal to suppress over 8 kilometers of irrigation infrastructure was voted by 66 out of the 78 sub-communities.

We wonder how many of those 66 Presidents were really aware of what they voted and the implications of their vote. In a time of crisis, with substantial increases in community fees included, does it make sense to approve such reform  of the resort? Do you really believe that it will be for free? Is it right that the Committee now exclude a substantial number of owners and sub communities in these decisions?

We have always advocated transparency and open/honest communications however the committee continue to rail road through material changes that affect all of our material investments. Information should be circulated so that decisions are made based on data, not on the basis of trusting in others. By contrast, our attorneys and several owners, that attended the EGM, have transmitted several criticisms on the development of the meeting:

 1) No one has been elected to the EUCC since 2007 and no AGM's have ever been held so how can a vote be made on material changes?

       

2)  Difficulties to explain in detail the legal reasons why we reject the measures proposed bySTV.

3) The final vote was done before our lawyers could complete their explanations.

4)   Resortalia admitted the existence of much more information provided by STV but not communicated to the owners.

5) It is interesting that Ron circulates 10 responses in favour of the new improvements bur forgets to include any of the ever increasing comments from owners not in favour. Is this really open and honest transparency or a committee that is running frightened and out of touch?

We cannot sit idly in front of a project we consider will cause an irreparable damage to our investment (and yours) in Hacienda Riquelme. In several threads on the owners’ forum, alternatives have been offered, most of times ignored.

Note that,as next step, a group of owners will lodge an appeal with the city of Murcia against the start of these works.

Debtors
The updated debtors position as at 31st Dec 2013:









Debtors are growing at 50,000 per month and are now at the
1 MILLION EURO LEVEL, 3 times the level of the debt at 2010.  This is a  complete disgrace and miss-management of the Resort.

Furthermore, the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 debt is just not being COLLECTED.

Lets guess why at the next quiz night????


Golf Course




This is the month that IRM has to confirm its intentions or file for bankruptcy. We await their response.........................

Chemicals spraying continues unabated.........

There are continued major health and safety risks from the chemical spraying within the resort and we for one would not want to be living on HRGR as a full time resident. 

Just looking at one chemical used at our resort, MCPA we are informed that MCPA is a possible carcinogen. Inhalation of MCPA can cause headache and nausea. Contact with the eyes and skin can cause redness. Symptoms of ingestion include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, weakness, and unconsciousness. 

MCPA is also slightly toxic to freshwater fish which could explain certain issues that have arisen lately.

Water
Where did all of the water go............ January 2014 picture:



No water, no birds, no wildlife, no renters, no golfers................................. and this even before the weather starts to get hot which will make matters even worse!!!!!!!!!!


All this with 20% increases in community fees for 2014 and yet the committee stand by with their hands in their pockets and say its not our problem!

We all brought into a five star golf resort which included a golf course and lakes, mmmmmmmm...........................

This is what the lakes looked like back in 2012:


Further details at: http://haciendariquelmeblog.blogspot.com.es/p/blog-page_9.html








Workers Compound
The front area of the compound has finally been cleaned up at last!



Coreva Airport will not open until at least November 2014

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) confirmed that Corvera Airport did not have an allocation of air space until November 2014 at the earliest.


http://www.tumbit.com/news/articles/8510-corvera-airport-to-open-before-summer-2014-valcarcel.html

Time for a change of Resort President and Committee before debtors hit 2 MILLION EUROS by 2015........

All Comments are appreciated and shown on the website:

Time for Change.....................

Time for Change......................................

SOS (Save Our reSort)

If you had economical problems at your home, which action would you take?

• To reduce the expenses related to the maintenance of your house as much as possible, and to wait for better times? or
• To keep the expenses level and to start a debatable reform of dubious profitability and only in the long term?

We believe that the sensible solution is the first one.  Our Committee has chosen the second one in the case of the renovation of the Hacienda Riquelme gardening contract. 

The Committee intended to directly approve the bid submitted by STV, which includes removing the so called “Polaris strips”. Given the strong opposition to this measure by some fellow owners, an unofficial EGM has been called forJanuary 8th, 2014 to put to a vote this proposal.

Our opposition to sign the contract with STV in the conditions reported to us (very poorly, by the way) is based the following reasons:

·  

• The removal of Polaris strips is an irreversible modification that substantially alters the property we bought.

•    It is a change that, as our legal advisors report, to be approved, it is mandatory the agreement of every owner. And there is no unanimity (The article 17 of the Condominium Law and the article 5bis of our statutes set that unanimity is required before introducing relevant reforms in the property of all of us). 

• ·It is a reform that replaces lawns (in good or bad condition) by stones. We believe that the aesthetics of the resort becomes worse.  In addition, an earth floor could be regenerated. A stone floor cannot.

• ·It is a reform than can put into risk the trees of the resort that have grown properly (precisely the ones planted in these strips).

• ·We know neither the small letter of this contract, nor rigorous, solvent and comprehensive data to support the decision that the Committee promotes.

• ·The savings are only hypothetical and in the long-term. A much more actual saving would be to deduct the cost of removing the Polaris strips included in the bid of STV (no company works for free). That is a lot of money to pay for irrigation water!

• ·Up to date, Resortalia has not delivered any data, as requested by at least a sub-community president, in order to objectively evaluate the true advantages of the STV bid.

•   The current President of the resort is elected only for the community of owners and not the public EUCC land hence he has no authority to call an EGM. Furthermore, the notice of the EGM has not been delivered legally.

• ·If the financial and economical survival of the resort recommends changes, we think they should be done within a strategic plan, and not as isolated initiatives.

• ·Making these changes to the resort are very dangerous. It sets a precedent and opens the way for other controversial decisions. Why not to cut down our trees to save the cost of pruning, spraying and irrigating them? Why not to convert lawns into fields to grow lettuces (we could use cheaper irrigation water)? Why not to paint the buildings in a different color, if we find cheaper paint? Why not to remove the perimeter fence to radically finish with the problem of its rusty?

We appreciate the job carried out by the Committee members. No doubt it must be frustrating to work hard as a volunteer and to receive opposite opinions.

But as owners that have invested our savings in Hacienda Riquelme, we do not have to consider positively any Committee proposal. We are not going to say always yes, in particular if we firmly believe that they are putting into risk the future market value of our investment, already very devaluated.

The Committee represents the owners’ community and their task is to ensure the maintenance of the resort, not dismantling it.

The resort has developed and survived six years of world crisis. Now that it seems that the situation improves, we believe it is not time for experiments. We prefer other measures, like trying to renegotiate some contracts still having too high rates, and improve the effective monitoring and control of our gardening suppliers.
Time for change...............

Comments
Good evening all, I regret that I have been put in the position where I must apologise for the invasion of your privacy through a number of unsolicited e-mails. It is difficult to find the right balance between having access to sub-community presidents via their official e-mail addresses and being able to curtail the excesses of those who have their own agendas - and I wish that I had the answer. In the current situation, there is a difference between the promotion of an opposing point of view (which is right and proper) and sending a stream of unsolicited e-mails which simply end up by being counter productive as most recipients get so annoyed with them that the e-mails are rightly consigned to the bin. Indeed, one of our S-C Ps has become so disenchanted by these unwanted e-mails that, regrettably, he/she has resigned. In closing, may I take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy New Year. Nigel Bradbury

We really do need to correct this miss-information within the community.

If someone has an alternative viewpoint from the Committee, then it is incorrect that their alternative views "should be rightly consigned to the bin" as Nigel directs.

Also when each SCP was elected they clearly signed data protection forms for the use of the SCP email accounts to be used and as such any email sent to the SCP email address to do with the community is not "unsolicited". If individual SCP's do not want to receive correspondence on key owner issues then they really are in the wrong roles and need to resign.

In terms of the latest saga then Pedro is the gardening subject matter expert as he designed a number of PW resorts and the committee would be wise to work with locals rather than constantly against them. As I recall the same fundamental mistakes arose with the sub community cleaning contracts where we were constantly told they could not be performed any cheaper. A local supplier subsequently reduced the costs by 70%.


In closing, surely artificial grass would be a compromise to the PW strips, an idea raised by a number of owners two years ago but that was from an owner not on the committee.

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Fully agree with you (except for artificial grass, that deserves further study) :-)  

Paco

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I note the point that the committee believed that the changes being voted on by e-mail were legal. I am surprised at this view, as I produced a detailed report in 2012, when I was on the committee, that clearly outlined the legal position on voting on such issues, in which I clearly stated that all such votes had to be presented at either the AGM, or an EGM, and this was agreed by Resortalia. This was also the position of the Resort President at the committee meeting where this issue was discussed. The fact that the rest of the committee believed that this e-mail vote was legal is, in my opinion, very worrying. 

We cannot just apply what we believe is more democratic and ignore Spanish Community law as though it is not relevant. I appreciate that the HPA is not perfect, but it contains checks and balances that are very important for all our protection. I have seen many examples of resorts where committees and Resort Presidents have made very poor decisions without a legal vote, often ending in court cases costing thousands of Euros, and in some cases bankrupting the resort. I am not suggesting that is happening in this case, but the precedent it may set for the future is of great concern. I spent a huge amount of the two years when I was the Resort President at La Torre undoing some of the damaged caused by the first committee, which resulted in various legal challenges from a group of owners and community presidents, so I have experienced first hand the problems this can cause.

Time for change...............

David Bamford

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Resortalia issued last week, the legal report about the changes that Committee want to make in landscaping of the Resort.

In my opinion this has not been reported to the owners correctly and maybe many of you ye not read. Maybe when you read it you will understand why they have not been properly informed.Now I draw you the report's findings:

III. CONCLUSIONS

Area 1: Town Hall area & Area 2: Town Hall Areas affected by the Contentious Administrative Process.

In order to carry out the modifications included in the report of the Contentious administrative process (recurso contencioso administrativo) and, and after the advice of the Lawyer of the Community, Professor Santiago González Varas, it would be necessary to get a first instance Court Rule.

Area 3: General Community areas.

Fort the modification of these zones, it is necessary to call a General Meeting of all the Subcommunities as well as for the General Community. In such meeting and affecting the Bye – Laws of the General Community, the approval needs to be ratified by unanimity.

Area 4: Private areas

In case that the zones of modification are private, the Community needs permission in

writing signed by the legal representative of the company owner of the zone.

I attached the report in English, plus the link to the website of the Community which has been uploaded (in case anyone thinks I modified them and I'm lying). http://hrgr..es/images/documents/2014/legalreport.pdf

Time for change...............

Pedro de Pedro Nicolás

Presidente del Edificio Espliego 1.

Agricultural Engineer

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I am a member of the committee, and always have been. I had resigned but had to remain in my role until an EGM was held to replace me. Nobody wanted to do it so a name had to be drawn out of the hat. As previously documented, my name came out of the hat, so I had to remain as PP, or go to court to get it out of it.  That was not an option as I was in the UK when it happened and will be there until the next AGM. I had the agreement of the Resort President to respond although the full committee had not seen my email at the time. I was responding to two emails from non-committee members.

I agree with your comment “It would also be unwise not to follow Resortalia's legal direction.”  Before you make comments about what is legal and what isn’t I suggest you read Resortalia’s legal direction  on these proposals.  This clearly states that we do not need a unanimous vote to change the grass verges and do almost all of the other changes in the proposal.

Regards

Ron

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Pedro,

I have done my best to give people as much information as possible to help them make the decision........ People will have to make their own mind up. I have spent too much time on it already and have no more time to spend debating this with you, or anybody else.

Regards

Ron

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I am amazed that the one key fundamental eyesore that can be seen from some owners apartments, the workers  compound, has been completely excluded from the STV Resort gardening proposals. This really is a "dog eat dog resort" run by useless committee that really are out of their depth and only after making do for themselves.

They also just don't understand the Statutes, HPA or the EUCC set up, madness!

Time for change.........


Lucinda
Tomillo 5 President
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I have read dozens of posts related to the controversy created around the new gardening contract, and I am surprised of the lack of answers to the published data. My conclusions are the following:

• The Committee has ignored suggestions, reviews and data provided by owners and landscaping professionals, apart from STV. It is difficult to make decisions about a subject without knowing it thoroughly. Being gardening amateur is not enough.

• Thelack of control overthe contract andthe performance ofSTVhas been remarkable:
• We pay for 24 lawn mowing each year, but around 16 are actually made (what seems to be much more logical).
• We pay for the maintenance of thousands of square meters of lawns that do not exist years ago. It was decided to abandon them due to the high costs.
• Many trees, especially those near buildings, have dried up. Survivors have begun to be better maintained in recent months only.
• Thepruningof some treeshas been widely criticizedby gardening experts.
• Resortalia followed very closely Ciscompany's works. However, STV has been little supervised for over two years.

• STV has made mistakes in several calculations included in its bid (measurements of surfaces, water savings estimations).

• The Committee has been campaigning in favour of STV many months ago (see Gardening Coffee Morninghttp://haciendariquelmeblog.blogspot.com.es/2013/06/manana-de-cafe-y-jardineria-gardening.html).

• The Committee has not informed the owners properly.

• The Committee (I guess that badly advised) has ignored the Spanish laws and only a burofax has forced them to start taking into consideration these laws.

• The "soul" of the actual improving of the gardening and the new bid is Alfonso Parra, an employee of STV.  What will happen if he leaves that company?

• The philosophy of new STV's bid ("We are going to remove some lawns so that you spend less water, but you're still paying me the same") does not seem acceptable.

• The Committee intends to redesign the resort. I bought in Hacienda Riquelme, not in El Valle or in Mossa Trajectum. I know that irrigation water and gardening are expensive and that debtors rising put us in a difficult situation. But there have also been posted in this forum (and out of it) specific proposals that would allow us to keep the resort as is and that the Committee has systematically ignored.

In my opinion, the solution would include:

·         To stop the signing of the new gardening contract with STV.

·         To forget the proposed changes (in particular the removing of the Polaris strips).

·         To renegotiate a new contract with STV or whoever, but with appropriate professional and legal advice.

Time for change...............