Sir,
Q: When is a protected Carob tree not a protected Carob tree? A: when the land is worth money!
Yes, once again last Sunday morning the sound of the chainsaw echoed across the Peyia landscape as yet more “protected trees” made the ultimate sacrifice, as so called ‘green belt’ land is farmed to grow anther concrete jungle, yet I find it ironic that last week there was a furore between the government and the land owners with regard to building, one side wanting detached houses on agricultural land, the other advocating apartments, because detached houses only benefit the rich…. well excuse me gentlemen, but have you taken a good look around at the number of new constructions that are still lying empty because they cannot be sold, apartment blocks empty since completion two years ago, and still new developments are being built?
When I first moved to Cyprus, re-sales were hard to find, now they are all over the place… just look at the number of estate agencies that have opened, look in the classified ads, the beautiful Cyprus landscape is becoming an urban concrete jungle, so one has to ask the question who gives permission for the building and is the land really building land, it seems the building percentage is proportionate to the amount of money that can be made.
Last Sunday, your letters page published a letter by Mrs A Wilkinson blaming the number of expats for the changing landscape. Well excuse me, but who sells the land? Cypriot land owners. Who develops the land? Cypriot developers. Who gives permission? Cypriot municipalities. Why? Easy money, greed, and what is more, even some solicitors and advocates, go along with it, and who pays the price the unsuspecting expat who buys a ‘dream home’ in good faith?
Again there is a parallel with Spain… a couple of months ago in Spain a complete local town council was suspended over unauthorised planning permission, and selling off land that was not for development, and just last week a new golf complex, including two golf courses and hotels was stopped because the land sold was part of a national park, and there is even talk of bulldozing existing properties built on land wrongly sold off as development land.
While I know it sounds like whingeing and moaning, one of the main reasons that people come to live in Cyprus (myself included) and holiday here is because of its natural beauty, and easy lifestyle, which some Cypriots are proud of. However, this beauty is now being sold off through obvious greed from top to bottom, and Aphrodite’s natural island is becoming a concrete urban jungle more suitable to Hades where greed and avarice are running riot.
Paul Beesley
Berlin/Cyprus
