Land use and new building conditions
ATHENS. What the Prime Minister told the Cabinet about the preparation of the Local Urban Plans, which is being carried out nationwide and in all three Corfu municipalities.
The 'Konstantinos Doxiadis' programme, under which the whole country will finally have modern urban plans.
It is an issue that concerns millions of citizens. Unfortunately, it has been going on for a whole century, which is why in planning legislation we very often refer to pre-1923 roads. That says something about how we have been slow to organise land use throughout the country.
Now, however, with a substantial funding of more than €400 million from the Recovery Fund, this problem is finally claiming a solution. Thus, the drafting of specific and local urban plans is now underway throughout the country. These will now definitively determine land use, building conditions, both within and outside the plan, and of course the protected zones of each area.
They will also delimit settlements with a building factor in 800 municipal units. And, of course, something very important is that these plans open up the process so that the long-standing problem of the designation of municipal roads can now be solved. The latter is an issue that has been a concern for years, especially in the Greek regional areas.
The details, the phases of the programme, the very important transitional provisions so that we can align with the relevant decisions of the Council of State will be presented by the Minister of Environment, along with the new initiatives to tackle illegal building.
The definitive opening to legality must be accompanied by the closure of any possibility of illegality and I think that the great innovation of the proposal that the Ministry will present is that we will now be able, with the use of technology, to identify in real time anything illegal being built in Greek territory.
It is a very important reform I would say, with a very strong developmental aspect, as it now essentially liberates legal construction throughout the country, stimulates construction, stimulates local employment, but also releases thousands of owners from a state of uncertainty, giving perspective and additional value to their property. And, of course, all of this will now be done with specific rules and with respect for the environment as a top priority.
CHRISTINA GEREKOU
