COME AND SEE US AT
THE LA ROMANA GASTRONOMICA
El Parque Doctor Perez Lopez (by the sports centre)
Saturday 17th Sept - 7pm till late
Sunday 18th Sept - 11am till 4pm & 7pm till late
An Open Letter From The LRRA President
I am writing this today to inform you of some of the ideas your committee have and highlight the work we intend to do on your behalf over the coming months. As a committee we have chosen to send this letter to all residents including lapsed and non-members of the association. In doing so I hope you will see the benefits of becoming a member – in my experience we can often achieve a lot more through co-operation and shared ideas than as individuals and it is my personal aim that this ethos should be at the heart of the association.
As your committee, our first step to achieve full co-operation is through improved communication at all levels. We are working to forge stronger relations with the town hall administration and other associations based within La Romana. This will be achieved through more regular contact and our increased presence at municipal meetings. Javier Visir (our official town hall liaison) has advised us that he has now passed all his qualifications and therefore will no longer be directly employed by the town hall. However he has kindly volunteered to remain as our main liaison with the Mayor to ensure continuity and help us further improve relations between the association and the Spanish community.
I wish to highlight to you how much the town hall appreciates the work of the association and the ex-pat community in general. We have been identified by the Mayor as an example to our Spanish counterparts for our co-operation and a willingness to contribute to village activities. In particular credit must go to those individuals who have worked very hard to raise money for projects in the village. While these activities have not always been directly linked to the association, I feel it is excellent that the non-Spanish community have been recognised this way and the association must work hard to maintain this reputation.
The Mayor also appreciates the active role our members take in municipal matters, with many of the issues previously raised at our meetings now included on a proposal for the 2011 Local Action Plan. All residents of the village are entitled to vote on what items they would like included in the plan – Lyn will send further details to you this week, and I would urge all residents to express their opinion by casting their vote.
Another important element of our communication strategy is with you, the member. Within the next few days we will be re-launching the newsletter (via email) to ensure you are kept up to date with village news as well as association matters. In due course we are also planning to remodel and utilize the La Romana Community website (www.laromanacommunity.com) to promote the association while also providing a secure members area to share news, information, meeting minutes etc. Of course for those members who do not have access to the internet, we will still provide a paper copy of all communications upon request.
Probably the largest step forward we are proposing is to enable members to receive support and help on all issues, not necessarily just those related to land grab. We recognise that there is a wide range of municipal issues you may face living in Spain which the association can offer help with. While we can not currently offer financial support for issues other than land grab, if you do have a problem that the committee agrees requires our support then we will do anything in our power to help.
Finally I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and urge you to contact me personally to let me know “what you want” from the association. Over the coming months your committee will be looking at ways we can all “add value” to your membership and your feedback is vital to ensure our successful progression. If you have not yet paid subscriptions, I urge you to join us and become an active member of the Residents Association – indeed to co-operate with your fellow villagers and participate in the community.
If you have any questions, opinions or ideas for us (good or bad!), please do not hesitate to email me: ian@laromanacommunity.com
Yours sincerely
Ian Pell
President
Spanish Traffic Act Reform
On May 25th 2010, the Spanish Traffic Act was reformed. The LRRA has produced a useful guide highlighting the key elements of the new act: LRRA Traffic Act Reform Guide to key elements (.pdf) (Click to download)
You can also click the "ley" icon to visit the official DGT reform website in English using 