In New Year message, CM announces harbour reclamation plan and 'tighter access to flagship public benefits’

- On Brexit treaty: ‘No deal would be better than compromising on Gib’s fundamentals’

Chief Minister Fabian Plans announced plans last night for a new land reclamation project in front of the Harbour Views promenade, in a New Year message in which he also said a ‘no deal’ outcome to treaty negotiations would be better than compromising on Gibraltar’s fundamentals.

In the message, Mr Picardo said he wanted to resolve “the key outstanding issues” in his last term of office, including housing.

The Chief Minister said too that his government would be tightening the criteria for access to public services including housing, healthcare and education to ensure these remained sustainable in future.

“We have resolved matters for many with the affordable housing we have already built,” Mr Picardo said.

“But we must build more and not just for affordable housing.”

“To do that, we must address two key factors: Identifying the land on which to build; and how to fund the projects.”

“Today, in order to progress on the first of these factors, the Government has completed heads of terms with the TNG Foundation for a deal to reclaim land to build more affordable homes.”

“This new reclamation will be inside the harbour, in front of Harbour Views Promenade.”

“I will be making a detailed statement when the contractual arrangements are finalised.”

“Importantly, the key aspect of this deal is that it does not require the Government to fund the cost of the reclamation up front.”

Mr Picardo said that, in the coming months, he would make further announcements about new homes to be built under Government schemes, including for rental.

But he said that as Gibraltar’s population grew, it must “define clearly” who was entitled to access “flagship benefits” such as housing, healthcare services and student scholarships.

“It is time to ensure that our rules are clearly drawn to provide these benefits to our people and not to those who may move here simply to benefit from them,” he said.

“In coming months we will, also, therefore be drawing more tightly the entitlement criteria for access to services going forward.”

“I am sure that there will be widespread support for this throughout the community to ensure the sustainability of these benefits for our children.”

On the negotiation for a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar’s future relationship with the bloc, the Chief Minister acknowledged the importance of an agreement for all sectors in Gibraltar, and for the Campo too.

He said he was “as impatient as you” for a positive resolution to the negotiation.

“But I also know that I will never compromise on the fundamentals that you elected me to defend, on the fundamentals that our parents and grandparents sacrificed so much for, and on the fundamentals that I entered politics to protect,” he added.

The Chief Minister said negotiators had “advanced significantly” and were “very, very close to a deal”.

“But there is great technical complexity in aspects of this negotiation,” he said.

“Getting it right means making the right calls on each of those technical aspects, and there can be derivatives of sovereignty in some details.”

“So we have to ensure that our proposals protect against all details where they arise.”

Mr Picardo said Gibraltar’s negotiators had proposed solutions that protected the security of the Schengen area and the integrity of the EU’s single market, as well as “fundamental positions”.

If those proposals were accepted, “we can do a deal tomorrow”.

But echoing an earlier New Year message from Dr Joseph Garcia, the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Picardo said that even with a deal, Gibraltar would have “a very different manner of interaction” with the EU in future.

“No deal will be hard, but I know that, however hard, no deal would be better for you and for me than a deal that compromises our fundamentals,” he said.

“A treaty will also mean that we have to change how we do things.”

“It will mean introducing parts of the European rules that we never belonged to when we were members of the EU but not in Schengen or the single market.”

“It will mean the introduction of new arrangements for immigration that will deliver maximum fluidity at the frontier.”

“It will mean the introduction of new rules for the arrival of goods into Gibraltar and a sales tax.”

“And we will enter into those arrangements if they are the safe and secure option we need to protect our people and our nation. But not otherwise.”

“We will enter into those arrangements if they are going to be beneficial to our businesses and preserve our way of life. But not otherwise.”

Mr Picardo said he knew people would want Gibraltar’s negotiators to continue at the table “however long it takes” to get the right deal for Gibraltar.

“However fed up you and I may be, I know you will not want us to give up on trying to negotiate the right deal,” he said.

“And that you will equally not want us to give up anything fundamental for the sake of getting just any deal.”

Elsewhere in the message, Mr Picardo signalled too Government plans to further bolster the digital services it offered, including being able to use ID cards on mobile phones in order to access public services.

In parallel, the Government will also explore ways of mitigating the potential negative impact of new technologies on children.

“To this end, we will be working on how best to control the use of mobile phones in schools and access by our youngest children to social media and other damaging online content,” he said.

“As we will be working also to curtail access by young people to damaging substances like tobacco and vapes.”

The Chief Minister said he wanted to legislate on these issues in the first half of the year “at the latest”, adding the while the Government’s role was “not to curtail freedoms”, it had a duty to prevent harm to the most vulnerable in the community.