Complaints against alterations being made to Dassia beach
CORFU. The site inspection by the Municipal Planning Department that will probably take place today concerns both the municipal road at "Maggiorou" and the cleaning work being carried out by Ikos on the beach.
Ten opposition municipal councillors are requesting an on-site inspection of the work being carried out by the Ikos hotel company on Dassia Beach and the issuance of a relevant report following the inspection by the Municipality's Planning Department. The request has been made to Central Corfu Mayor, Meropi Ydraiou.
The Deputy Mayor of Spatial Planning, Urban Planning and Environment, Mimis Katehis told Enimerosi that, on receipt of the document, the Planning Department was immediately instructed to carry out the necessary inspection in order to determine if there are any violations.
The inspection, which will probably take place today, has been requested for two locations - the municipal road at "Maggiorou", leading to Dassia Beach and specifically the last 50 metres, as defined by the Land Registry lawsuit filed by Central Corfu Municipality against the IKOS ODISIA Single-Member SA Hotel Company, and the cleaning works on the beach being carried out by the company, although the beach is the responsibility of the Land Registry Office and not the Municipality.
The Municipal Finance Committee recently approved Ikos' request for the immediate cleaning of the beach and sections of the seabed in front of the hotel (Ipsos - Dassia beach) at its own expense, provided that the necessary permits are secured and that the work be supervised by the competent department of the Municipality.
However, according to the residents of the area, the company has completely altered the coastline with tons of sand it has dumped on the beach, as President of the 'Kefaloupsos' Association for the Protection and Promotion of Dassia, Aggeliki Faita told Enimerosi. "Just recently, the company has transferred and deposited tons of sand on the beach of Dassia, altering the coastline and the beach, causing a serious alteration to the natural environment of the area," she said.
The Association, through its President, filed a lawsuit on Friday, 5th May regarding the work on the beach. The next day, the work stopped, but on Sunday 7th it resumed, invoking the decision of the Finance Committee. Although the police were called to the scene, they referred the matter to the Land Registry Office, which is responsible for the beach. However, due to the lack of personnel, no inspection can be carried out to determine the legality of the work being carried out. Finally, yesterday the Association filed a complaint with the Court of First Instance in Corfu.
Joint request
Meanwhile, the continuous protests of the residents mobilised opposition councillors. With a joint request, signed and accompanied by the recent circular of the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, P. Panagiotopoulos, to all the Prosecutors of the country's Courts of First Instance, regarding unhindered access to beaches this summer, they asked Mayor Meropi Ydraiou to immediately and urgently instruct the Municipality Urban Planning Deprtment to carry out an on-site inspection of the works being carried out on Dassia beach in order to determine their legality or not.
In addition, they are requesting that they be given the report that will result from the inspection of the Urban Planning Department. The request has been signed by municipal councillors Kaloudis, Vlachos, Vassilakis, Kardakari, Sarlis, Boukas, Grigoriadis, Chrysikopoulou, Riga and Tsimbouli.
