Justice blocks uncontrolled construction on Aegean islands

Justice is putting a "brake" on uncontrolled construction in Aegean islands. A new decision by the Piraeus Court of Appeal cancels a building permit for a hotel investment on the spectacular beach of Vlychada in Santorini. It was preceded by two decisions of the Council of State (CoS) for Paros and Mykonos, which highlight the bearing capacity of the islands as a "key" for the expansion of settlements or the promotion of tourism investment plans and not the pressures of housing development they receive.

In particular, the Administrative Court of Appeal of Piraeus with two decisions (no. A110 and A111 / 2022) accepted the applications for annulment filed by the Hellenic Society of Environment and Culture (ELLET), thus canceling the building permit that had allowed the construction hotel in the area "Lagadia-Megalochori", overlooking the emblematic beach of Vlychada in Thira (aka Santorini), as well as its revisions.

Vlychada is one of the few pristine areas of Santorini and is characterized by a spectacular landscape with the main element of the impressive geological formations. However, in 2019, the construction of a hotel in the area had begun, in an area outside the limit of 150 meters provided by the Presidential Decree of 2012 as an unstructured zone, from the edge of the cliff. The start of construction had upset the local community, but also the local authorities.

The court annulled the building permit because the site, in which the construction of the buildings was allowed, had no face on a legally existing public road (municipal or community) recognized by an act of a state body responsible for urban planning. The legislation does not allow the issuance of a building permit on an off-plan plot where there is no official recognized road....