"The existence of businesses does not mean the area loses its protected status"
Enimerosi archive
CORFU. In light of the developments surrounding the case of the Garitsa–Anemomylos Park and the operation of catering activities in the area, the Mayor of Central Corfu and Diapontia Islands, Stefanos Poulimenos, made the following statement.
(Central Corfu Municipality) “The Municipality is handling the issue of the Park’s operation with the following guiding principles:
- Preserving its protected status, without ever having contemplated its declassification.
- Maintaining it at the highest possible standard, as a recreational green space in an area of exceptional natural beauty, so that residents and visitors can enjoy it through the activities it already hosts.
Following the decision of the Committee under Article 152, the Municipality, in order to maintain the approved—by the competent authorities—and clearly designated public-use areas for the placement of tables and seating by the adjacent food-service establishments to the Park:
a) Is preparing to file before the Council of State an application for annulment, along with a request to suspend the execution of the Committee’s decision under Article 152.
b) Is cooperating with independent MP Alexandros Avlonitis, while also seeking the cooperation of the other two MPs of Corfu, to submit a special amendment that will secure the possibility of granting the right to use portions of public space—up to 45 sq.m.—to legally operating food-service businesses adjacent to the Park, and to no others, exactly as provided for in the Park’s Operating Regulation.
The safeguarding of the operation of these businesses does not, under any circumstances, imply declassification, while the existing protection regime is neither affected nor altered.”
