On the second of December 2006 there was a public meeting in the Palazzo Pancrazi to mark the start of a long-term project here in Barga. The meeting was billed as “incontro di lavoro” for an “emergenza ambientale” and was chaired by the sottosegretario di Stato ai Beni e Attività Culturali, the Hon. Andrea Marcucci.
Present at the meeting were also Marco Bonnini, President of Communità Montana, Stefano Baccelli , President of the Provincia di Lucca and members of Regional Government. It was announced that there was a real danger of large-scale structural damage due to landslides in the area just below Barga Vecchia known as Fontanamaggio and Val di Lago. A plan was put forward involving shoring up the areas at risk and filling in the bottom of the valley to stop the sides from falling inwards
Since then work has continued (article here) and has close to completion of what will be just the first stage in the Parco Buozzi area and as new public money arrives the project will then move onto the next stage where larger construction and consolidation work will be taking place. It is more than likely that the Sereni and now the Bonini administration will be remembered in the future for being involved in what will probably be the largest bio engineering project ever undertaken in this area. It would not be an over exaggeration to say that at the completion of this project, costing over €13 million, Barga as we know it, will never be the same again.
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Earlier this week there was another press conference in Palazzo Pancrazi to publicise a secondary project running alongside the main consolidation efforts – that of providing information for new visitors to Barga who will arrive in the city via the large carpark below Barga Vecchia and will pass through Parco Buozzi on their way into the city. Information panels have been erected right through the park providing a huge amount of information on the city. A new pocket guide book and map has also been prepared and will be launched later on this season.
Dec 2006 – first press conference
October 2007– work starts
November 2007 – second press conference
March 2008 – first project completed
November 2009 – update of progress
March 2010 – latest images
Actively encouraging “more information for visitors” to Barga should be one of the sindaco’s principal goals. Thus far, there has been little sign of movement in that direction.