Concrete threatens the Aegean
An attempt by Aegean Minister Nikos Sifounakis to limit construction on the islands has failed after the prime minister ordered a review of all presidential decrees issued by the ministry and approved by the Council of State. At least three decrees (for Kythnos, Halki and Serifos) doubled the minimum size of a property required for obtaining a building permit outside town limits from the current 4,000 to 8,000 square meters. This week at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Costas Simitis and attended by Sifounakis, Public Works Minister Vasso Papandreou, and Deputy Minister Rodoula Zisi, it was made clear that responsibility for zoning policy in the Aegean belonged solely to the Public Works Ministry. The prime minister intervened because of problems that arose with zoning outside city limits due to the shared authority of the Aegean and Public Works ministries. The Aegean Ministry’s presidential decrees raised obstacles to overconstruction on many islands, but the Public Works Ministry’s «housing control zones» (ZOE) permitted more flexibility. For example, on the islands of Kea and Sifnos, the Public Works Ministry set a minimum of 4,000 or 6,000 square meters for a plot of land to be eligible for construction, while the Aegean Ministry set a minimum of 8,000 square meters. Three parliamentary deputies for the Cyclades (Elissavet Papazoe, N. Levoyiannis, I. Homatas) wrote to the prime minister asking him to clarify the situation and to restrict the Aegean Ministry’s jurisdiction to traditional settlements, claiming that the Aegean Ministry did not have adequate staff for zoning other areas. Nevertheless, the Council of State’s approval had already given legal status to the Aegean Ministry’s proposals, ruling that areas outside town limits «should not be used for construction but for agriculture, forestry and recreation.» Local residents and associations felt they were prevented from «exploiting their land.» When it appeared that the Council’s ruling was res judicata, and that similarly strict rules could be applied to other islands, the issue was decided by the prime minister’s announcement. Now the sole authority is the Public Works Ministry, and the Aegean Ministry’s presidential decrees are under review by a tripartite committee that includes Sifounakis.
