Illegal Bungalows in NATURA Protected National Park: Authorities "do not know"

Thirteen summer bungalows, right on the seafront, have unexpectedly “grown up” in the territory of the National Park of Skinias, a protected area NATURA 2000 in East Attica. Local authorities said they were unaware of the buildings breaking the laws and vowed to launch an investigation.

Illegal constructions on a private lot, where 13 vacation trailer houses were located between 2015 and 2017, came to light on Wednesday, according to a report by state broadcaster ERT. Speaking on ERT Thursday morning, Marathon Deputy Mayor Christos Stamou said that jurisdiction over the area had only recently passed to his municipality, and the local authorities had only just learned of the violation of environmental regulations:

“There were 13 houses with trailers on this site for 17 years. Then they left because the owner decided to evict them from his land, and now we have this. This site is completely within the borders of Schinias Marathon National Park, which has been classified, as a Natura 2000 facility with full protection by presidential decree in 2000. All of a sudden, within three years, these facilities began to be built, so that the trailers turned into luxury bungalows. The verification mechanisms and related services will be mobilized.”

He also stated that on behalf of the managing agency, eight guards patrol the park, who are responsible for identifying violations and encroachments. “Responsible for their demolition is the urban planning department of Marathon, which was informed of the violation just the day before yesterday,” Stamu added. According to ERT, the case of this violation has been brought to the attention of the judiciary, which is conducting its own investigation into the matter.

PS Bungalows are built over a period, trucks and workers come and go and no one pays any attention. Even numerous foresters and guards…

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