Dear Editor,
I will no doubt be dismissed as a killjoy – and someone who should either ‘suck it up’ or go back to my home country – but the arrival in the already ravaged countryside near Portimão autodrome of yet another noise-generating activity has impelled me to question who is in charge of Algarve planning?
There are so many bodies we read about (the CCDR, APA, Polis Litoral, etc) telling us what we can and cannot do in terms of preserving Portugal’s sainted environment. What in God’s name possessed any one of them to sanction Hovertrack Portugal? I just don’t get it.
Of course, new ventures should be welcomed; investment laid-out the red carpet, and all that, but do we really need this Hooray Henry lunacy, churning up dust and noise in an area already blighted by acres of tarmac and concrete that appear to be attracting very few?
Have environmental impact studies been carried out to assess, for instance, the effects on wildlife, or even the sanity of local residents? I for one had not even heard of this coming until it was on the scene.
Reading up via Facebook, these massively intrusive craft appear to be powered by fuel – so there’s no environmental plus there – and publicity appears to have been limited to a few road signs, and online posts.
The ‘infrastructures’ (other than the swathe of blasted earth) appear to be no more than a selection of metal containers.
According to Facebook, the business only officially started on December 31.
Can you please find out who has sanctioned this latest horror, and can it be challenged in any way?
Yours in despair, a very concerned local resident
Editor’s reply: Thank you for this, which we received only minutes before our press deadline for this week. We will endeavour to find answers for you to be published in next week’s paper.
