Filenews 14 July 2022 - by Angelos Nicolaou
The Environmental Authority decided to give a positive opinion on the construction and operation of the Guru residential development in the community of Pano Platres. For the evaluation, he took seriously into account the opinion of the Attorney General concerning the Assessment of the Impact on the Environment by certain projects and especially the evaluation of projects under partial or total implementation. 31/3/2022, which interprets the judgments of the European Court of Justice on this issue as well as the Commission's decision on the implementation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive.
For the Guru project, it has been taken into account that an environmental study was made, but it was not evaluated due to the illegal start of works. The Planning Authority issued a notice of enforcement for the termination of the illegal works and the construction works were stopped. The Environmental Authority has a complete picture of the environmental impact before the time of implementation of the project, as well as during its construction and operation.
The opinion of the Environmental Authority is considered a cure for the illegal act, and sets conditions related to the construction and / or operation of the project in order to operate in an environmentally rational way.
The Environmental Authority exceptionally examined the project for environmental impact assessment. The main reasons are:
• The project is in a residential zone, and in case the process was done on the basis of the relevant legislations, it would have a positive opinion from the Environmental Authority conditionally.
• The development company has other permits in the nearby area which are already in place and part of the existing and neighbouring environment has already been negatively affected in terms of its environmental characteristics.
• The environmental parameters that may have been affected are the flora and the nearby protection zone of the dam. In relation to flora, there are no species that are protected at European or national level and the influence already made is non-significant and manageable.
• The issue of visual nuisance and the landscape, provided that the project in question is in accordance with the provisions of the Policy Statement in relation to the urban planning zone, is considered to be handled similarly by the Planning Authority, at the level of issuing planning permission.
