Ensuring municipal road to Dassia beach remains public
CORFU. This is the residents΄ association’s demand in response to the hotel company’s claim that it merely allows passage through the road crossing its property.
In the wake of a recent Court of Appeals hearing, the Ikos Odisia resort issued a public statement on its ongoing dispute with local residents.
The company stressed that it has “never had, nor does it have, any intention of restricting free access for residents and visitors to the sea via the road that crosses its property.” Ikos added that it has always facilitated use of the passage and is fully committed to ensuring uninterrupted access.
But the residents’ association was quick to push back. In its response, it challenged the hotel’s position and called for immediate, binding action:
“If Ikos Odisia truly means what it says, then it must agree—without conditions—to the legal recognition of the road as a public and municipal road. Only then will the right of passage for all members of the public be guaranteed, permanently and beyond negotiation.”
Ikos Odisia’s Position
Regarding the issue of access to Dassia beach (formerly Club Med) and in light of inaccurate publications and protests based on misinformation, Ikos Odisia S.A. states clearly that safeguarding uninterrupted access to the shore has always been its firm commitment.
The company has never had, nor does it have, any intention of taking any action that would restrict the free access of residents and visitors to the sea via the particular passage that runs through its property. On the contrary, it has fully facilitated the use of this passage and has committed, in every way, to ensuring uninterrupted passage through it.
For this purpose, it has repeatedly conveyed its commitment to the Municipality of Central Corfu and Diapontia Islands—verbally, in writing, and through court filings in the ongoing legal proceedings—while at the same time it has undertaken, entirely at its own expense, improvements to the passage to keep it safe and functional for all visitors.
Ikos Odisia assures that the residents of Corfu and the visitors of Dassia beach (formerly Club Med) have had, currently have, and will continue to have full and uninterrupted access to and use of the passage, enjoying Dassia beach, a place of unique beauty and recreation for everyone.
The Cultural Association
We express our anger and indignation at the company Ikos Odisia’s ongoing attempt to present uninterrupted access to Dassia beach as an act of its own “good will” and “firm commitment.”
Let us be clear: The coastline, the seashore, and the access to them are PUBLIC GOODS and constitutionally guaranteed rights. They are not, and never will be, private “facilities” offered at the discretion of a business group.
The company’s statement seeks to obscure the truth by speaking of “inaccurate reports” and “misinformation.” But the truth is this:
The legal actions that the local community and the Municipality were forced to take were not random. They arose as a direct reaction to the company’s actions that undermine public use of the only road providing access.
The repeated references to a “passage through its property” and to improvements made “entirely at its own expense” serve one purpose only: to create the impression that access depends on Ikos’s permission.
That is not a commitment. It is an attempt at the privatisation of the road through a façade of control!
We Demand Immediate Recognition: Enough with the Lies
We do not accept “verbal and written commitments” that can be revoked at any time by a new legal manoeuver. We call on Ikos Odisia, if it truly means what it says, to IMMEDIATELY take the following step:
To agree, without conditions or reservations, to the legal and institutional recognition of the access road as a PUBLIC and MUNICIPAL ROAD, which will guarantee the permanent, non-negotiable, and independent right of passage for every member of the public.
The “assurance” that residents will continue to enjoy the beach must become law, so that our access does not depend on any business plan.
Dassia is a place of unique beauty and recreation for all. We, the residents and organisations of Corfu, will continue to fight and remain constantly vigilant.
We will not allow our public beaches to be turned into private privileges for luxury hotels. The sea belongs to everyone!
GIORGOS KATSAITIS
