Hi fellow owners

We hope you are keeping well and have survived lockdown as best you can wherever you are. As you may be aware the main entrance (south gate) roundabout at La Tercia has recently been enhanced (at no cost to the community) to make our lovely resort more appealing and attractive and to reflect the care we show on the resort itself and we hope you approve.

Just a bit of history for new owners and residents.

Some years ago some owners expressed the wish that our front entrance was as appealing as those for other nearby resorts. Let’s face it, its not every resort that has a sewage plant just inside the main gate!!!!

So in the spirit of being “good fairies” a couple of volunteers took on the challenge of making this dream come true!

We had the last site “community annual dinner dance” at Peraleja Resort some 5 years ago (we couldn’t hold it locally as we had no facilities to do so). Anyway, the raffle was so generously supported and we raised over 300 euros which the owners at that event specifically wished to start the “roundabout fund”.

This money was subsequently boosted by generous private donations from a number of owners – and they know who they are – which pushed up the total fund to 611 euros to date.

Then, a number of other generous owners donated various plant cuttings. These plants have subsequently been propagated privately over the last 4 years or so at no cost to the community for the pots, for all the new plants that were grown, the water, the compost and time. These plants and all the new plants that were grown were “lodging” on Jane Murray’s and Sandra Blakey’s terraces. Other owners have also permitted the use of their terraces for storage and watering of these plants plus there are other owners who are propagating even more plants. Just to let you know the North Gate roundabout will be planted after the Summer (as it is now too hot to do any further gardening) and we are currently building up sufficient stocks to imitate the planting on the South Gate.

In answering some recently mooted criticisms we would like to explain the whole project as follows :

Irrigation Costs

When the project was first mooted, Sandra did confirm at a President’s meeting, when challenged by another President, that she and Jane would pay for the “irrigation” costs i.e. at that time to be a weekly bowser of water. However, thanks entirely to Admiburgos’s tenacity the resort now benefits from free recycled water and we propose to use this water to feed the plants.

There is no fixed irrigation system on the roundabout – merely drainpipe sized tubes of about 12 inch depth planted at the back of each planting group and behind each individual plant so that no water is wasted – water goes straight to the roots and will not therefore evaporate or waste. The plants that have been chosen you will see are desert type plants which once established will need infrequent watering – we just need to water well for the first year for them to become established. In a year’s time the plants will look completely different having matured. 

Now regarding the planting and landscaping.

FYI – there is a 1.5 metre outer circle on the roundabout that has not yet been landscaped. The plan is to cover this area with yellow gravel (similar to that near the fountains outside the commercial centre) when funds permit.

The central circles of tubing you can see are merely circle dividers and are not carrying any water. They are purely cosmetic to divide the gravel circles. Further, the gardening company donated their time outside of their annual contract (just to clarify they get paid on an annual basis for a specific set of tasks) and this was outside of their remit.

They undertook the work willingly and with care and this is not the first time they have done work well outside of their contract just to ensure the resort looks loved and cared for as much as we can within our limitations.

For example, our little birds on the commercial roundabout were a pet project of the owner of the gardening company and he is personally responsible for the topiary maintenance. Also, across the resort there are a number of extra trees he sourced for the community at no cost. We can go on about all the value added work this company undertake and we are working with them to ensure that the other areas that need improvement become projects for the future as time and money allow.

Materials Costs

The membrane, tubing and gravel, total cost 600 euros, have all been covered by the generous donations mentioned above. This cash is not community funds but the proceeds of the raffle mentioned above and private donations. We now have 11 euros in hand.

So far we have got free everything for this project at NO COST TO THE COMMUNITY. I.e not a penny has come out of your community fee contribution. The whole project was funded by donations of plants, time and cash as a gift to the whole community. It has to be said that Murcia Council ,who should have been responsible for this landscaping, are simply not interested.

THE FUTURE

So we have 11 euros in hand. We probably have enough plants to start the North gate roundabout project but would always welcome more – yuccas, cacti, aloe vera and agave. Plus some little red “cabbage” plants but we can always make more of those as we have the mother plant.

But we will also need cash for tubing, membrane and gravel to complete the job. So, if you feel you can contribute then thank you in advance. Our promise to you is that no contribution will be too small and every cent will be accounted for. If you feel you can’t contribute then equally that’s no problem.

This project is a small gift to all of the community for all of our benefits. We know many people would like to have a smile on their faces after having battled with all the weeds on the approach roads!!!. (by the way the Mayor and the council have been strongly requested on many occasions to deal with the weeds as recently as this week).

Please contact the gardening liaison group – Jane Murray at presidentrb11@hotmail.co.uk or Sandra Blakey at rb12.2president@gmail.com if you would like to help with this project or to pass on any further positive suggestions for gardening enhancements to the resort – all will be welcome.

Many thanks for taking the time to read our statement and our best wishes to you all.

Jane and Sandra