The Executive of the Funchal City Council (CMF) presented on Tuesday afternoon its proposal for a Municipal Regulation on the Opening Hours of Noisy Establishments and Activities, which contains significant changes in relation to the one in force, which dates back to 2015.
Cristina Pedra, the President of the CMF says that the Funchal City Council could not remain indifferent to the “approximate 400 noise complaints received over the last three and a half years,” nor to the “more than 1,000 excessive noise occurrences,” received on average each year by the PSP. Again this is believed to be the unofficial figure, as the CMF has also received a fair number of direct noise pollution complaints.
In a statement, Cristina Pedra said:
” A balance is needed between the right to rest and the right to economic activity.”
The proposal will be lodged with the City Council on Thursday, where it will enter a public discussion period for 30 days. After that, it will return to the CMF where they can tweak the final proposal if necessary before it goes for final approval before the Municipal Assembly.
The detailed document establishes a general regulation and then three specific areas of location, namely the Old Town, the Historic Centre, Rua das Fontes and Calçada de São Lourenço, with associated differentiations, also derived from the typology of the businesses in question and the days of the week.
Even tighter rules will be applied to commercial spaces located in residential buildings. The greatest exception are nightclubs which are licensed and will remain open until 06:00. However, most establishments will have to close at 23:00 – 00:00, although there are exceptions, with some places having to close at 22:00.
All terraces will have to close 30 minutes before official closing time.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
