ESCORCA
Some 20 members of a Majorcan Volunteers group met up this weekend in Lluc to meet their commitments to give the surrounding countryside a clean-up, a task which had been interrupted during the summer months. The volunteers gave the camping ground a facelift and helped with the removal of some elm trees which had deteriorated badly. The Volunteers of Majorca is a group connected with Environmental conservation which have organised work outings each first and third Sunday of every month. Apart from on-the-spot clean-ups, they keep a watch on mountain tracks and pathways to check for unauthorised dumping.
Grape competition
BINISSALEM
Although Binissalem lends its name to the annual wine festival, surrounding areas are also encompassed in the original trade mark of the wine produced here. Francisco Heredia, from Consell, was the winner of the Binissalem Wine Festival's Heaviest bunch of grapes of the district competition which took place this weekend. The prize bunch weighed 2.7 kilos, with the two competition runners up also coming from Consell.
Closer to home, the winner of Heaviest bunch of grapes from Binissalem was Felix Campillo with 2.6 kilos.
Green point savings
SENCELLES
An official watchdog, appointed to the so-called green point in Sencelles where people come to get rid of a variety of waste material, has enabled the Town Council to save costs of up to 200 percent of rubbish control. According to Guillem Llabres, Partido Popular Maintenance councillor, in hardly 2 months, since the vigilante has been on duty, we are now collecting only 1 skip of unwanted material a month instead of the usual 4 and are saving a great deal of money in the process.
On top of that, Llabres continued, all the bulky material, mattresses, washing machines and so forth, are now separated out from other material to make recycling more efficient.
Calls for earlier ban lifting
FISH WATCH
A number of traders in Palma and raors (cleaver wrasse) fishing enthusiasts are collecting signatures from all over the Island on a petition asking the Balearic government to lift the prohibition on hunting the species as of 15 July each year. This date is one month earlier than the date currently made law by the regional government's Fishing department. Protesters say 15 August coincides with summer holidays rendering some fishermen unable to enjoy the start of the raor season; others complained about the start of inclement weather in August.
Lack of dining space
LLUCMAJOR
I n spite of the fact that October is just around the corner, the Jaime III school in Llucmajor continues to lack space in its dining room. Amparo Hernandez, in charge of the dining room, explained that the problem arose because of the 103 square metres which were originally allocated to the dining facilities, 40 metres were taken away to convert into another classroom. Pupils will have no choice but to eat at home and return later for their afternoon lessons.