Lisbon City Council listens to residents of Areeiro, Beato and Penha de França

Lisbon City Council (CML) will "collaborate in resolving" a problem at the Vitória Clube Lisboa facilities, caused by a storm that caused walls and fences to fall down, said Sports Councillor Vasco Anjos. We will "liaise with the City Council services so that the licensing process is swift and the expense, which will now be close to 250,000 euros, can eventually be included in the Municipal Sports Support Program". To do this, he explained, "we'll have to resolve the issue of both the front and rear wall projects and get the license in time".

CML has already paved the route from Rua Carlos Botelho to the entrance of the field, said Councillor Joana Baptista, and more work is planned to create a parking lot and surrounding finishes. The work to improve and paint the walls, stairs and accesses cost more than 55,000 euros, she added.

The pitch, which is owned by CML, is used by around 150 athletes and by the Lisbon Football Association teams, recalled Pedro Gonçalves, from the club's board.

In Rua Actor Vale, in Penha de França, CML is going ahead with a project to upgrade the street lighting in order to increase safety in the area. The issue, raised by a resident, is a "priority" and the project will be carried out, guaranteed Carlos Moedas, president of CML.

The ideas competition launched by CML for Bairro Portugal Novo will help to "define the way forward for the challenge associated with that building". There will be news about the process soon, said Councillor Vasco Moreira Rato. Also underway is "the definition of criteria for determining the right of acquisition", which will be shared with the residents of this Areeiro neighborhood in due course, said the councillor for Local Development and Housing.

Another municipal neighbourhood, Bairro Horizonte, will be the target of urbanization works that include "everything from sanitation to water supply, the burying of telecommunications lines, urban comfort and safety, improved street lighting and tree planting", said Joana Baptista. "The whole neighborhood in terms of design will be considered."

In the case of the houses in the neighborhood, the housing councillor explained, the sale process is underway, "but we also need to have more expressions of interest (...) from the remaining residents". We will "encourage and help clarify everything that may be necessary to support this expression of interest", he stressed. A contract for repairs to the roofs and common areas is due to go ahead soon, he added.

"We have 28 schools in Lisbon in a terrible state and we can't do [works] because we don't have the money from the Central State," warned Carlos Moedas. "This is an extremely important issue, it's an issue that I've been discussing with governments for four years as mayor (...) the need to have these resources."

With regard to the Luis António Verney School, "it's up to the government to finance the restoration of this school", stressed Education Councillor Rodrigo Mello Gonçalves. But, he added, "on the Lisbon City Council's side, we haven't stood still: the preliminary project for the school's refurbishment has been completed and the public tender for the concession to draw up the refurbishment project is currently underway". CML "went ahead" with financing the project, to the tune of 1.6 million euros, "even though it wasn't its responsibility, but given the state of the school and the need to start providing answers, the council went ahead with the project."

Security, particularly in terms of civil protection, and urban hygiene were other issues raised by the residents present.

CML, together with the parish councils, is making "a transition" so that "in 2027 it will be the City Council that does everything, in other words both collection and cleaning around the recycling bins, so that there isn't this division of responsibilities that doesn't go well afterwards", said Carlos Moedas.

To the residents present, the Mayor of Lisbon also stressed the work that has been done to protect Lisbon residents in the event of an earthquake or tsunami: "at the moment, with the help of the parish councils, we have 86 emergency meeting points for people to go to in the event of a disaster".