Permits from municipality, legal notices from forestry department
CORFU. Business owners at the centre of the dispute over the Garitsa Park. Residents’ Association says: ‘Whatever is provided for by law.’
Business owners operating in the Garitsa and Anemomylos Park have found themselves caught between conflicting actions by local authorities, as an increasingly open dispute emerges over who has control of the public space.
The Forestry Department has issued formal legal notices to business owners, demanding the removal of equipment that restaurants and cafés have installed within the park. At the same time, municipal authorities are inviting the same businesses to collect their operating permits after the park’s operating regulations—approved by the municipal council—were returned ratified by the Decentralised Administration of the Ministry of the Interior.
The dispute centres on which authority holds jurisdiction over the area and what framework should govern its management. All indications suggest the matter may ultimately be decided in court.
The municipality’s position is also reflected in the redevelopment study for the park. Areas currently used by businesses were excluded from the project, and no work was carried out there. While this has created visible discontinuities in the redesigned space, it also illustrates the consistent policy of municipal administrations—from the period of the Nikolouzos administration to the present day—to allow businesses to operate within the park.
The Forestry Department, however, maintains that the law allows only a single, small-scale municipal refreshment kiosk to operate within such parks.
Representatives of the local residents’ association, speaking on Sunday at a joint meeting of local organisations, clarified that they are not opposed to food and beverage businesses operating in the area, provided that the legal limits are respected. These set a maximum space allocation of 45 square metres per business.
GIORGOS KATSAITIS
