Court OKs sailing center at Hellenikon
Greece’s highest administrative court yesterday approved presidential decrees allowing the construction of an Olympic Sailing Center at Aghios Cosmas, on the coastline near Athens’s old airport at Hellenikon. This opens the way for the construction of a marina, support facilities and temporary stands. Local residents have been trying to block the project, saying it will harm the environment. The Council of State, however, did not rule completely in the government’s favor. It found one article in the decrees illegal (which called for rocks and other material to be dredged from the sea) and made comments on another two. Government officials will not have the right to make a small harbor at the southern tip of the existing harbor wall, and only the materials from the digging at the construction site will be allowed to be dumped in the water. «Village elders said they will meet tonight to reconsider whether they will allow police in the area,» he said.
