EN92 - page 24 of 29

24 of 29

ECOCLUB, Issue 92

Opponents

fear a gated community inhabited by affluent

foreigners, and argue that the development will destroy the

Natura 2000 protected site, and that the golf courts will speed

up desertification

– Crete being particularly prone.

What

happens, they wonder, if the development goes wrong and

watering the grass stops or if the soil is destroyed by the use of

desalinated water for the golf courts.

And according to the

mediterranean

taste of conspiracy theories, some

fear that the

development is little more than an elaborate, real estate deal,

with golf tourism added as a pretext.

As it happens golf is not

popular with either locals or tourists, considered elitist, and

totally outside the cultural and natural landscape.

Opponents add that jobs were not needed in the area, which

enjoys very low unemployment, and is quite self-contained,

conservative and egalitarian, preserving its traditions in relative

isolation at the eastern tip of Crete. They point out that 14,000

inhabitants will suddenly be added to a municipality of 2,500.

The left adds that the agreement is of a colonial nature, as the

lands are leased through an opaque arrangement for a total of 80

years to a foreign consortium led by an unproven developer,

with very high connections. There was muted opposition from other circles, as the peninsula is of military & defence

significance, not very far from the spot where a Greek and Turkish fighter plane collided and crashed after a mock dogfight in

2006.

Supporters argue that only 1% of the area or 255,000 sq. metres will be built, and that the accommodation capacity was reduced

from the original 12,000 beds to 7,000 , while an expensive desalination plant will cover the needs of the golf courses (but not

of the hotels and villas, which will take water from the municipality, reply opponents).

The environmental impact study

(perhaps intentionally) involved prestigious local scientists with credibility in left & ecological circles. Supporters pledge that

all environmental laws and obligations to the local community will be met, and that the development will actually spare the area

from unplanned development, while generating many “local” jobs, up to 4,000. The developers have also hired a well-connected

and respected UK NGO / green consultancy, to oversee the environmental sustainability of the project. It is strange however that

they did not seek or prefer to partner with a local NGO. If all goes according to plan, the resort will be operational in late 2009,

although building works are expected to continue for up to 10 more years. The project’s funds appear to be sourced from private

investors, bank loans, and (state or EU) subsidies. Agreements with Kempinsky Hotels, that will manage a five star luxury hotel

within the complex, and PGA Golf Management increase the projects credibility. In an article in the Sunday Telegraph in June

2005, the president of the developers is quoted as enjoying the enthusiastic backup of the Greek government.

The developers

company, renamed Minoan Group PLC, possibly to acquire a more Cretan aura,

since the spring of 2007

is being traded on

AIM, the sub-market of the London Stock Exchange for smaller, riskier companies.The resort aims to be a year round holiday

complex, in addition to the 45 golf holes, it will also offer horse riding, athletics, water sports, conference centre, a theatre and

arts complex, organic agriculture and an educational botanical garden.

The most-ecofriendly resort is of course the one that will never be built, but only as long as nothing else will take its place, as

development, like nature, does not like vacuums. Beyond mega-resorts, development of mini resorts, and villa developments can

have equally devastating effects, and Crete is now experiencing rapid holiday home construction aiming at the North European

(mainly UK & German) retirement market.

On a densely populated island, there is greater competition between and within

various land uses and conservation, so adjustments and hard compromises need sometimes to be made to lofty principles &

expectations, but certainly not without standing one’s ground first.

The local "community" should ideally have the last word,

although it is rarely united, especially in emancipated, genuinely democratic countries with individualist traditions, while there

is always the chance of a community getting it totally wrong, by listening to the Sirens of get-rich-quick.

Works have not yet started, and the saga will be continued at Greece’s Supreme Court on November 2, 2007 after

local

environmentalists pleaded in April 2007 to stop the project. The unprecedented summer forest fires of 2007 in the mean time,

have angered many otherwise passive citizens, and there is a new wave of environmentalist concern.

The twist in the story is that the Toplou Monastery as all Cretan churches reports directly to the Ecumenical Patriarch of

Constantinople (based in Istanbul, Turkey), Vartholomeos I, spiritual leader of some 300 m. Christian Orthodox around the

world, who is also known as the Green Patriarch, for his clear views in favour of environmental conservation.

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