Rejected project of M.O. Drenova "Drenovske bench"

At the last call for the Rijeka Local Partnership Programme, MO Drenova applied for a project called ‘Drenovske benches’, by which we competed for funds from the programme (HRK 100,000). The project envisaged the installation of 15 benches in the Drenov MO area and landscaping, and was created as a result of a subcommittee initiative – Women’s Activism. They invested considerable effort, visited the entire area of the MO, proposed about twenty locations and made a conceptual design of the landscaping. After verification of the property-legal part, the project documentation and cost statement were prepared in the MO. An important element of the tender is the participation of own works, which in our case was limited due to the very nature of the activity (assembly of finished benches).
It is precisely this moment that is cited as the main argument for rejecting our project, which is actually absurd given that a larger share of our own works is not possible. Furthermore, it is problematic to rank projects (seven applicants) by their value, because then it turns out that smaller projects will never have the opportunity. The final solution was reduced to the allocation of 25,000 HRK for the four largest projects, while smaller projects (similar to ours) were left without funds. We believe that this distribution of resources is inappropriate, as it discourages the initiation of smaller actions that – and as such – can significantly improve the quality of life in communities, which should be the primary objective.
But let's hope that next time there will be more understanding for smaller actions and that the main criterion will not be the financial size but the quality of the content.

Devastation of communal inventory in the area of MO Drenovo

In the past two months, we have witnessed on three occasions the devastation of the bus waiting room on Lokva and mirrors in several positions. These are damages that have risen to tens of thousands of kunas and can not be characterized differently than as an outrage of hanged individuals. Unfortunately, the perpetrators are impossible to detect, there are no sanctions for the perpetrators and so the circle of breaking is closed. The small resources we have at our disposal go unnecessarily to the wind and instead of using them to further improve the quality of municipal inventory, we have to spend them on (almost futile) repairs.
It would be much more useful if this excess energy were used for positive purposes such as clearing wild dumps or landscaping playgrounds. VMO Drenova will be delighted to support any initiative in this regard.

Refurbishment of Drenovska cesta

Almost every day, citizens' requests for editing promentnica in our area arrive at MoD Drenova. We can say that most of the requirements are justified and need to enter into our plan for the arrangement of communal infrastructure. However, in almost all cases, we very quickly fall into procedural problems that significantly slow down or impede realization.
In order to avoid the above-mentioned alerted citizens to the following procedure to be followed:

Only applications submitted to MO Drenova can be nominated for municipal planning

• The descriptive area of the project (house numbers) and the list of parcels on which works should be carried out must be provided in the application. For help and an example of correctly submitted requests, you can contact the Secretary of MO or look at the website of MO Drenova.
• The owners of parcels must give their consent on the relevant form (it can be obtained from the secretary of the MO) that their parcel (or part of it) can be arranged. It should be clearly indicated what is allowed (e.g. filling and widening of the road by 0.5 m along the route and paving) in order to avoid any misunderstandings
• The application thus completed shall be included in the municipal planning plan of the MO and shall be submitted to the competent services.
• If the request does not conflict with the adopted GUPs and PUPs (where they were made), in accordance with the available funds, the implementation will be approached

In this way, we can significantly accelerate the execution of works and ensure that all allocated funds are fully used.

Consents collected for the decorating of Bruno Francetić Street

The members of the council visited the owners of the plots along Bruno Francetić Street and, in agreement with them, all consents were collected for the continuation of the ‘Minibus’ project. We are pleased that citizens have recognised the value of this initiative and have given up some of their land so that the necessary enlargements can take place.
As part of the road design, drywalls will be removed in critical places and replaced with a concrete wall, which will give the required width of the roadway.

The Council hopes that we will be able to reach an agreement with landowners in other places so that other items from the road plan can also be arranged.

Introduction of a minibus for Kablare

In accordance with the initiative to introduce a minibus line (inspired by the existing ones for Pulac and Strmica) that would operate on the route Kablari - Bruno Francetić - Turnaround line 5 at the city cemetery Drenova, members of VMO Drenova visited the route with the competent services of the city and it was determined that before the introduction of the minibus, appropriate corrections or rehabilitation of the existing road would be necessary. A dozen of the most critical locations were singled out and given that it is necessary to obtain the consent of the landowners before starting any works, the Council invited the owners to a meeting held on March 31, 2006.

Unfortunately, the response was only partial (only a few of the ten invited owners), but it is positive that the participants expressed positively about this initiative. It is important to emphasize that the minibus will not be able to be introduced until all critical points have been remedied, otherwise its safe operation cannot be ensured.  Remediation will for the most part be reduced to the demolition of dry stone walls and the construction of a new wall, while at the same time expanding the road. We do not need to specifically explain what this minibus would mean for citizens (especially children and the elderly ) who have to walk a few kilometers to the school or bus station in Benaši on a daily basis, and the Council hopes that we will be able to get the consent of all landowners on problematic sections.

Tele 2 Antenna for Mobile Network

The second ‘event’ that excited the inhabitants of Drenova was the installation of the Tele2 antenna (22.2.2006) in the centre of the village on the Žminjska 9 building. The antenna was practically installed overnight and as it subsequently turned out without all the necessary documentation. Residents of neighbouring buildings reacted with a petition to the Council requesting assistance in removing the antenna. The Council received appropriate interpretations from the competent city services on the procedure to be followed when installing mobile operator antennas on residential buildings, and accordingly, at its last meeting, it concluded that it would request the competent persons of the Žminjska 9 building to provide all necessary documentation and, if it was found that the facility did not comply with the regulations, ask the competent services to remove it immediately.

This case clearly shows that more communication is needed in our community, that is, before activities that are of wider interest, all interested parties should be consulted, which could certainly avoid the tensions that have now unnecessarily arisen. The installation of the antenna certainly represents a significant source of income for the building on which it is installed and in this case ensures the availability of services of alternative operators, which are often financially more favorable and therefore interesting to the majority of citizens. However, as already said, this cannot be realized at the expense and with the harassment of the wider community, but only by mutual agreement and finding the best solution in technical and health terms.