Draft law for Mt Hymettus
Environment Ministry legal experts are looking over a draft law for the protection of Mount Hymettus, one of the capital’s largest mountains and an important ecosystem. The draft law suggests that the so-called complete protection zone, or Zone A, be extended from 7,600 hectares to 9,300, with the clear designation of sites of archaeological interest as well as a slew of new regulations regarding construction. Other measures considered in the bill, which will affect 15 municipalities, are the removal of radio and television station transmitters and the construction of a transmission hub instead, a ban on all industrial activity and the transfer of existing units within Zone A to other locations, the introduction of a special environmental management committee, as well as a complete protection umbrella over the parks of Goudi and Ilissia that border on the mountain. Once the Environment Ministry’s legal team is done with the draft law, it will be submitted to the Council of State for enactment by the end of 2010.
