Calpe to become more pensioner-friendly

IMPROVING accessibility and promoting citizen participation are two of the main objectives that Calpe has set for becoming an age-friendly town.

On Wednesday morning, the councillor for the elderly, Rebeca Merchán, together with the company in charge of its creation ‘Crea 360’, presented a local action plan regarding the project of ‘Calpe, age-friendly town. The aim is to adapt the town for pensioners in order to improve their quality of life.

The plan is the result of an initial study as well as 210 surveys and eight work groups, in which older people made contributions on how to improve the town so that it is adapted to the needs of the third age.

Among the actions envisaged in the document are those related to accessibility and mobility, such as the improvement and maintenance of pavements, as well as the creation of pavements in urbanisations, and adapting green pedestrian traffic lights to stay on longer, so the elderly have time to cross.

The project also includes a subsidy to improve accessibility in local shops and the installation of bio-healthy parks, which are green spaces with gym equipment. Adapted buses and more frequent bus services have also been suggested.

Special emphasis is also placed on actions that seek to encourage the participation of this group in the social life of the town, such as the creation of a council for the elderly, an advisory body who could present suggestions related to the elderly and that whom may act as an speaker of this group before the town hall.

Likewise, it is envisaged to promote respect and social inclusion of the elderly through a professional experience programme which will involve the celebration of events and conferences that value the experiences of elderly people in Calpe.

The plan also includes other actions related to social services and health, such as the creation of a day centre and extension of the home help service.

“This local action plan is a necessary document that helps us prepare for the challenge of the ageing population and which allows us to get going now to start looking for solutions”, said Merchán.

Calpe joined the “AgeFriendly Cities” project in 2017, an initiative promoted by the World Health Organisation with the purpose of contributing to the creation of environments and services which promote and facilitate active and healthy ageing.

Sixty-seven percent of the population of Calpe are over 60 years old, hence the importance of the initiative.

jpugh@cbnew.es