Land reactions exaggerated, minister says

By a Staff Reporter

INTERIOR Minister Andreas Christou yesterday said the reactions concerning the changes of Nicosia town planning regulations were exaggerated.

Deputies on Thursday voiced their concern over the changes to the Local Plan for Nicosia, which some claimed could halt building development and cause land prices in agricultural areas to plunge.

Under the new regulations that came into effect on March 21, the minimum area of land needed to build on agricultural land has been increased from 4, 000 to 6,000 square metres.

The maximum size of the house can only be 240 square metres and a developer has to have access to the house through a public road.

Deputies argued the changes would greatly diminish the value of agricultural land and were contemplating a legal proposal to block the implementation of the regulations.

Yesterday, Christou said deputies would approach the issue differently if they were better informed.

“Maybe more information was needed on the matter, which I and the town planning council will try to provide to the members of the relevant House committee,” the minister said.

He added: “My view is that a better briefing will enable the deputies to approach the matter in a more practical manner.”

Christou said the Local Plans were being processed for the past two to three years and the town planning council, which has done a very methodical job, was responsible for completing the project on behalf of the state.

He said communities and private citizens could now submit appeals, which would be assessed in the next few months, adding that public dialogue was the best procedure to deal with the issues that emerged from the new plans.

“I also believe that these worries are somewhat exaggerated; these worries and the relevant issues do not exist in the degree they appear publicly,” Christou said.

Building coefficients have been cut three times since 1992 and land prices have not decreased but increased instead, he added.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.