The Paralimni Forest Golf Company has announced that it has received preliminary planning permission to use public land in the Paralimni area that can be used for the development of a golf course.
According to an interview given by Paralimni Forest Golf Ltd CEO Christos Kitazos to StockWatch:
"After 39 years and three failed attempts to find a suitable area, the company has ended up in the area of Agioi Saranda, Mana tou Nero and Arkakouthkia, in the municipal boundaries of Paralimni. The long-term lease of the land is a total area of 771,148 square meters, in the municipality of Paralimni, which has already given its consent for the construction of the project, which is not expected to cause environmental problems,"
The investment will be based mainly on small housing units, a hotel, a conference centre, a sports facility and additional developments.
This project has been in development since 1997, but has encountered the barrier of unavailable land. Previous attempts to lease government land in the Ayia Napa area foundered due to the presence of Natura 2000 protected ecosystems in the area of the proposed golf course development.
According to older reporting from dom.com.cy:
According to the response of the Minister of Agriculture Costas Kadis to the MP of Ecologists George Perdiki, the first case concerned the lease of state forest land of 575 decares within the Natura 2000 area, in Cape Greco by the decision of the Minister in 2007. The project would be done without incentives and any residential or commercial development. As a result of these restrictions, the company did not proceed with the project, judging it financially unprofitable.
The ministry annulled its previous decision in 2014, approving in the second case, the lease of 590 decares of forest land in the Ayia Napa forest and reaffirming the government's commitment to building a single golf course within the Natura 2000 Cape Greco area. A relevant lease agreement between the Forest Department director and the company Ayia Napa Forest Golf Ltd was signed in March 2015.
However, during the examination of the urban planning permit application submitted in 2017, the Environmental Impact Assessment Committee concluded that the creation and operation of a golf course and related tourist developments within the protected area would have significant adverse and irreversible effects on the site.
Therefore, the company located a new location where there are a few environmental impacts and social reactions as possible and submitted, on 11/5/2020, a new application for the lease of state forest land. The new application concerns state forest land in the Municipality of Paralimni, with a total area of 771,148 square meters.
Should this investment be completed, this will be the only international-standard golf course outside the Paphos region, which currently has four courses in operation: Aphrodite Hills Golf, Secret Valley Golf, Minthis Hills Golf and Elea Estate Golf.
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Sources
https://www.stockwatch.com.cy/el/article/sygkoinonies-erga/anoixe-o-dromos-gia-paralimni-forest-golf