GSD unveils ‘bold and radical’ 30-year plan for Gib

The GSD on Thursday announced a “bold and radical” 30-year strategy called Gibraltar 2055 that is aimed at improving quality of life in Gibraltar.

At a press conference delivered at the GSD headquarters, candidates Daniella Tilbury and Damon Bossino outlined what is entailed.

“This is bold, radical, new and it is something we want to see happening should we be elected to Government,” Mr Bossino said.

“We are keen for this plan to cover various spheres and it will not only be issues on development, but will also include economic, social, environmental and cultural aspects of our lives, because at the end of the day this goes to our quality of life issues.”

“The aim here is, if possible, to have a cross-party position in respect of all the issues.”

For Mr Bossino, this is not a development plan but rather “something that is much more ambitious and wide-ranging” that goes beyond the four-year election cycles.

While there are many ideas for “Little Gibraltar”, Mr Bossino said this provides the opportunity to step back and “move away from piecemeal thinking and short-term thinking”.

For her part, Ms Tilbury said politics “does not have to be dry and distant” from the electorate.

“I am excited by these particular proposals,” she said.

“We have consistently said during our campaign, firstly, that we are committed to bringing people back into decision making so that we're not just simply involving them every four years when there's elections.”

“Secondly, it's about the need to connect government right across the ministry and how can you do that without a plan?”

“Thirdly, we are very vocal about the need to combat short termism and indecision making and challenging the reactive and piecemeal approach that we have seen consistently over the last 12 years.”

She said the proposals for Gibraltar 2055 “addresses this commitment in a very tangible way”.

“We're acknowledging that politics can be closer to the people and we are committed to participatory democracy,” Ms Tilbury said.

“Not just short term, but actually creating those spaces for people to directly inform government policy so they can shape the future of our community.”

“This is a co creation, this is us saying we need to think long term, we need to connect across government, but we want you to be part of this process at the heart of it, helping us carve that city, that's liveable, that healthy lifestyle, that purposeful environment, that place that celebrates our culture, that place where we can live our best lives because ultimately we want a Gibraltar we're proud of.”

Ms Tilbury said what is needed is to “instil a sense of pride, but also ownership”, and the only way to do this is by “creating those spaces to hear, listen, to engagement meaningfully and to create that future together”.

Inspired by places like Scotland or Barcelona, the GSD is hoping that if elected to Government, the community will take ownership and responsibility for their “local districts”, and share their vision for where they live.

“We are presenting a high-level plan, but will then provide the opportunity for engagement to define that more closely at a local level,” Ms Tilbury said.

“This is exciting.”

“Politics is not just about being combative or about bringing down people, it’s about creating exciting things.”

Mr Bossino acknowledged that this will be a challenge but added: “This is a new attempt and a new approach of doing politics.”

“People may accuse us of being naïve, but I think that this needs to be at least attempted and tried.”