There were 7 items on the agenda this month, plus a lively (as ever), post agenda discussion.

About 20 members of the public turned up, along with 5 members of Belediye support staff, to sit in the cheap seats.

Kalkan Turkish Local News was there, and here is our report.

Item 1 was a vote to confirm some of the finer points of the 2012 budget.  As we reported last month, the overall sum to be managed is 8.3 million TL.

Item 2 related to an impending visit from the Tapu and Kadastro regional office, based in Finike.  Essentially, they are coming to check land ownership in the outlying areas, surrounding Kalkan.  The Belediye has identified local people who can assist the officials when they come.

For information, the Kadastro records are maintained for three purposes: 1) to determine the amount of property tax to be paid, 2) to establish the size and boundaries of land for the protection of property rights, and 3) to provide a basis for planning and rural development.  If you want to know more, click here. (Turkish web site). 

Item 3 saw the Board vote to confirm the recruitment of a new Zabita officer (uniformed council officer).  That makes three.  For information, the Belediye also recently recruited a new member of the admin team, and a nurse (male).  We are not entirely sure where the nurse is working at the moment.

Item 4 was an interesting subject, concerning Kalkan harbour.  If you have been reading KTLN over recent weeks, you will know that the outer wall of the harbour has been strengthened, to withstand the winter storms.  The Board announced some interesting plans for the future.

They have developed plans to extend the capacity of the marina area, by adding a floating platform outside the harbour, where boats could be moored.  The pontoon would be 120 metres away from, and parallel to, the existing stone wall, and would be 200 metres long and 8.5 metres wide.

In addition to this, we understand that a section at the end of the existing stone wall would be developed so that it could accommodate small cruise ships.  We emphasize the word 'small'.

We have attempted to show where these additional structures would be, however, please note, our image is based upon a verbal description given to us.  We have not seen the actual plans.  Don't sue us if it's not completely accurate!

The Belediye proposal has to be approved by the Turkish government, before it can go ahead.  So we must wait and see if that approval is forthcoming.

Item 5 was on the subject of new supermarkets coming to Kalkan.  In a nutshell, there is some local opposition to the big retail operators coming to Kalkan, by people who say that we already have enough of them.  However the Belediye has reaffirmed that they will not stop them coming, providing of course that they comply with all local planning requirements.  This may include, for example, the need to provide adequate parking facilities for customers.

Item 6 was also quite interesting.  The Belediye voted to adopt a hard line on late bill payers.  If anyone requires the Belediye to do something for them - for example, to provide some kind of document in relation to planning consent, if that person owes the Belediye any money, no service will be provided, until the existing outstanding amount has been paid.  Seems fair enough.

Item 7 was about Kışla Caddesi, the new service road that runs parallel to the dual carriageway, in the direction of Kışla.  Part of this service road has to cross a piece of land owned by a local individual. 

The owner, quite reasonably, wants compensating.  He has suggested some adjacent Belediye land, however, at least some of this is green belt.  The Kalkan Belediye planning committee will take another look at how this matter can be resolved.

That was the end of the formal agenda.  The floor was then opened up to the public.

A lady in the audience told the Mayor that there is a problem with rubbish in Kalkan, and the surrounding villages.  She described how people discard things along road sides, and how builders leave debris behind, after construction has ended. 

One man stood up to say that there were some people with tractors and trailers who were fly tipping. 

Others joined in what was a lengthy and lively debate.

The Mayor said that the Belediye has done much to improve the situation, including the deployment of 280 new rubbish bins.  They intend to order a further 100 bins.

It is a difficult one to crack, and everyone needs to do the right thing.  There is only so much the Belediye can do. 

Soon, the discussion veered back to supermarkets in Kalkan, and the threat to existing businesses - not just the supermarkets, but also bakers, butchers and greengrocers.  Once again, it was quite a lively debate. 

Despite the concerns expressed, we suspect that 2012 may see more than one retail chain coming to Kalkan.  Time will tell.

Finally, on a more trivial note, the Board members didn't like sitting in a straight row at these meetings, so the table is now arranged in a slight V shape, so they can see each other, as well as the audience.  See photo below.

Kalkan Turkish Local News - your window on Kalkan Turkey