Kalkan Turkish Local News brings you details from this month's Belediye Board meeting.

Once again, in terms of content, there is very little to tell you, so our report is brief.

Perhaps the most interesting news is that the Belediye has a rather impressive, new meeting room.

Ever since KTLN started reporting on Belediye Board meetings, they have been held in a first floor meeting room, where Board members would sit round a large table, with the public sitting on a mixture of sofas and plastic chairs.

The new meeting room
The new room is where the library used to be, underneath the main Belediye offices. It has been refurbished, into a very smart meeting room, with a raised platform and long desk, at one end of the room, where the Board members can sit. There is also a lecturn on the platform.

The room has a sound system to ensure that people at the back of the room can listen to what is being said. There is also a computer projector, which beams an image on to the wall behind the main platform.

It is a professional set up, which will get lots of use. The room is ideal for public meetings, with 84 comfortable seats, in neat rows, fixed to the floor.

Incidentally, here at KTLN, we believe it would make a great mini-cinema. If you are in Kalkan, this may be something to mention to the Belediye. If a number of people want this, and suggest it to them, who knows, we could have our very own picture house.

Come to think of it, the Belediye could make a significant contribution to the municipality budget, if they sold popcorn, bags of Maltesers, fizzy drinks, etc. at UK prices!

The formal agenda
Returning to the agenda, there were only two items listed for discussion. The first was about a planned trip to Kalkan's twin town of Cupramontana. However, at the last minute, this was removed from the agenda, as further preparatory work is required before the topic can be discussed by the Board.

The second, and only remaining item was about the Kalkan town plan. Kalkan has to submit plans to central government, via Antalya, setting out its vision for future development of the town. In the past, several plans have been developed concurrently, which when viewed together, formed an overall plan, however this piecemeal approach has not been welcomed by the higher level planning authorities.

So now, the Kalkan Belediye Board have determined that they should, as a matter of priority, pull together one overall plan for the town. This will require many existing plans being dove-tailed into the master plan.

The two most significant areas that the Belediye is focussed on in these plans, are:

- the piece of land adjacent to Mustafa Kocakaya Caddesi, (between the PTT and the street with may bars (Boaters Bar Code and Mojito) - on the right hand side, as you walk down the street, and

- the harbour side, from Marina restaurant, towards the Fener Cafe.

That was it, as far as the agenda was concerned.

Post agenda matters
Then it was the turn of members of the public, (23 were present), to raise a few questions. Some of them commented on the main topic covered on the agenda, and some tried to raise personal planning issues. The Mayor was not going to be drawn into discussing individual issues at the Board meeting.

The man who used to run the old çay bahçe behind the town beach, stood up and spoke at length about his displeasure at the way in which that business was closed down, and the new çay bahçe, (run by the Kalkander Association), was set up in its place. The Board were in no mood to go over old ground, and his remarks were cut short, and the meeting brought to a close.