Skyscrapers for Lefkosa in North Cyprus
Cyprus Times Front Page
September 8, 2005
Lefkoşa and Gönyeli Mayors team up against the Planning office in order to amend the outdated Lefkoşa Master plan to path the way for efficient use of land and maybe add prestigious buildings to the North Cyprus skyline. If every thing goes as planned for the Lefkoşa area municipalities no one will envy the skyline of the Greek Cyriot part of Lefkoşa in a few years time.
Lefkoşa and Gönyeli Mayors teamed up despite different political party backgrounds againtst the city planning office in order to amend the Lefkoşa Master Plan. The Plan that currently blocks the efficient use of land suitable for building and restricts high storey buildings that makes North Nicosia look like a third world country capital when compared to the south.
“Lefkoşa lacks prestigious buildings” said Lefkoşa Mayor Kutlay Erk underlining that the current Master Plan didn’t allow the efficient use of the land to build high storey buildings that could become landramrks of Northern Cyprus. Having the intention of adding prestigious buildings to the Northern Cyprus skyline Mayor Erk said that due to the inability caused by the planning regulations, so far there have been limited investors even enquiring about such projects. Erk hopes that once the amendments have been completed investors both local and international will line up to build complexes that will also boost business prospeckts in the capital.
“There isn’t a decent city hotel in Lefkoşa and despite the growing importance of the city due to recent political developments and the opening of the crossing points between the North and South it wasn’t possible to build any” he added. Mayor of Lefkoşa Kutlay Erk and Mayor of Gönyeli Ali Çetin Amcaoğlu held a press conference yesterday explaining their suggestions and expressing their pledge to citizens of the area to participate in the process of the amendment of the Lefkoşa Master Plan. According tho the law there is a 42 day period that the public can go into either municipalities or the city planning office and express their complaints or ideas.
“There are great deal of empty pieces of land in the heart of the city, that could be turned into hotels, housing developments or business centres, but are sitting there empty because Planning doesn’t allow feasible development” said Erk, adding that their aim was to amend the regulations and allow owners or investors to make use of those empty spots. Erk also pointing out the growing traffic problem in the capital and suggested that the government buildings that bring thousands of vehicles into the city every morning should be moved to the outskirts of the city. “This will ease the traffic burden and also spread the city in a healthier way” he said.
“The land prices in Gönyeli have gone sky high due to the planning permission regime” said Gönyeli Mayor Ali Çetin Amcaoğl,u who has battled with the city planning office in court for many years, adding that many people from Gönyeli despite having land, had to go to other districts to build homes for their children.
Mayor Erk, saying that their aim was to re plan the city according to the citizen’s needs, announced that after an over two years series of discussions they had come to the point where the 20 year old out dated Lefkoşa Master Plan is going to be amended and that will allow Lefkoşa to grow in a modern and desirable way. |
