Looking back four years later: How the reconstruction of the area is being implemented

Four years after deadly fire in Mati the Ministry of Environment and Energy is in the final stretch for the final approval of the new planning of the fire-stricken area

“This year’s sad anniversary of the deadly fire of July 23, 2018 which led to the painful loss of 103 human lives – but also to the destruction of thousands of properties – this time coincides with the period of completion, in record time, of a new institutional framework for the revival of area, the completion of the planning of a new settlement and the treatment of dozens of pathogens that plagued the area for decades”. As the Ministry of the Interior underlines: “From the first moment, every procedure ran, with the assistance of the TEE, in order to complete the preparation and approval of the Special Urban Planning Plan based on legality and the principles of science in the best possible way and with fast procedures. In fact, in an area that, in addition to the heavy burden on the residents and the entire country, also faced many planning difficulties, both objective (character of housing, small properties, coastline problems, etc.) and institutional (multiple and conflicting protection regimes, etc.”).

ΙΠΕΝ and TEE undertook to proceed even more quickly with the Urban Planning Implementation Plan (Rytotomiko), i.e. the planning on the field, per block and plot, for the practical implementation of the new urban planning regulations.

As stated by the Council of State in its opinion on the EP’s DP plan, “the objective of the Special Urban Planning Plan is to contribute to the reconstruction and restructuring of the environment based on the criterion of the improvement of urban and residential conditions on the one hand and the rapid restoration of natural vegetation on the other, as well as the preservation and enhancement of natural elements such as streams. At the same time, it aims to remove older spatial distortions, making the area more resistant to natural disasters.”

From city plan to block-by-block implementation

As it became known from the Ministry of the Interior, in the coming days the planning foreseen by the Special Town Planning Plan will be put into practice at the level of each plot and property in the fire-affected area. At the same time, all the studies for the common areas, traffic and sustainable resilience, the coastline and its erosion response, infrastructure projects and public buildings are being finalized, and will be finalized by mid-August, with a Ministerial Decision of Nikos Tagaras for the Local Drainage Plan for a new settlement for the housing rehabilitation of the victims, with the financial support and assistance of the Republic of Cyprus.

Important milestones

The B1 stage of the study of the Streamlined Implementation Plan, which includes the arrangements for inclusion in the city plan, has already been completed and the matter is being discussed at KESYPOTHA to follow the process of posting and any objections. In September, respectively, the B2 stage of the study is completed and with its finalization, the drafting of the Implementation Deed (per plot) begins. At the beginning of October, the Cadastre Chart of the area is also posted. The goal is to complete all the accompanying studies, the formal approval procedures and the environmental licensing of the PSE by issuing the AEPO by November, so that all the procedures for the approval and announcement of all the studies and infrastructure projects required can proceed immediately after , to complete the procedures by March 2023. Until that point in time, according to the timetable and the decisions of the Ministry of Interior to suspend building permits for the protection of the area from completions, the construction etc. of new buildings in the reformed area is not allowed.

Necessary remodeling studies of the entire area

It is worth noting that for the completion of the procedures, dozens of necessary studies have been prepared and approved (or are in the process of completing the procedures). In addition to the urban planning study as such (both at the level of the Special Urban Planning Plan and at the level of the Regional Implementation Plan) it is worth mentioning the enormous effort that has been made in a very short period of time (with the participation of the residents, the Greek Land Registry and the researchers) for the detailed cadastral mapping of the properties in the area and the final drawing up of a Cadastral Chart and Cadastral Tables in order to be able to complete the PSE with the appropriate contributions in land and money for inclusion in a city plan, as provided by the legislation and the Constitution.

Especially on the subject of the sustainable development and resilience of the area, it is worth noting that more than 18 transport and traffic studies have been carried out (for traffic, parking, the road network, the coastal promenade, transport – pedestrian – bicycle routes, the signage, materials and bioclimatic planning projects etc.), demarcation studies of the 9 streams in the area and preliminary study of the necessary hydraulic settlement and flood protection works, geological suitability studies (for the new settlement but also for the entire PSE and the entire intervention area ) while a geological survey and a geological study to deal with landslides on coastal slopes are being completed these days. At the same time, the Coastal Engineering Study, Preliminary Study of Port Projects and Coastal Protection Projects have been completed, while with the completion of the study of the Stream Section Implementation Plan, the Environmental Impact Study will also be completed for all the projects and forecasts of the RSE.

The environmental licensing will be completed, according to the schedule, by the end of October, so that the implementation of the necessary projects will take place within the year, with a horizon of completion of the main road works and the stream arrangement projects by March 2023, where the goal is to issue the Executive Order of PEN Deputy Minister Nikos Tagaras for the Stream Section Plan and the Implementation Act and, therefore, the completion of the planning at the property level.

Housing rehabilitation with new houses

The housing rehabilitation of those affected, with the construction of new houses as well as the formation of public forest recreation areas, is carried out with the support of the Republic of Cyprus. The Ministry of the Interior has promoted the creation and institutionalization of a new Local Drainage Plan for the new settlement, which will be located on an area granted by the Municipality of Rafina – Pikermio. The Ministerial decision institutionalizing the new settlement and approving the new Local Drainage Plan for the specific new houses will be signed by the Deputy Minister PEKA Nikos Tagaras, who supervises the whole project, until the middle of August, according to the existing schedule.

Already the services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under the coordination of the General Secretary of Spatial Planning and Urban Environment Efthymios Bakoyannis, are completing the procedures (approvals, KESYPOTHA opinions, etc.) both for the study of geological suitability and for the Local Implementation Plan itself. In the following days, within July and August, the procedures for the Management Body of the new settlement will be completed.

Implementation of additional studies and projects

In the context of further upgrading the quality of life in the affected areas, the government, using the fund account managed by the Hellenic Parliament, entrusts the Development Organization of the Attica Region with the implementation of some additional specialized studies and projects in the area.

RES-EMP

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