Ready to appeal to the European Environment Commission, 30 elected officials are presented to make known the risk of destruction of the natural environment by unregulated placement of wind turbines, without taking into account the character of each region by the electricity marketing companies.
The issue is of increasing concern to municipal authorities and local communities, as companies start to prosecute mayors who resist the destruction of their areas. It is worth noting that wind turbines, which are the «new fashion» of energy companies, are installed with the approval of the Energy Regulatory Authority and in no case does the institutional framework require approval by the municipal councils.
Most recently, the discussion has reached the top body of elected officials, the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece, with its president, Dimitris Papastergiou, to take a rather lukewarm attitude towards the request of the 30 mayors, expressed by the mayor of Saronikos, Petros Philippou, who faced a similar problem in his region.
«We are not opposed to Renewable Energy Sources, but in the way in which the placement of wind turbines is done, completely uncontrolled, without any planning and eventually ends up, instead of the wind turbines being something friendly to the environment, to destroy it and because of the large volume of wind turbines» stresses the mayor of Saronikos, Petros Filippou, who took the initiative of the network of mayors. The main demand of the network of more than 30 municipalities is the preparation by the Ministry of Environment of a special land-use plan for the placement of wind turbines.
However, the unregulated spread of wind turbines both inland and on the islands has already attracted the attention of Europa Nostra, which recently announced that puts five Greek islands «under its protection», as they «run a high risk of altering the Aegean landscape» due to the «unregulated development of wind farms». Thus, Kythera, Amorgos, Sikinos, Kimolos and Tinos are considered «necessary to be protected» as they are «characterised by high environmental and aesthetic value». And their multi-layered landscape is, according to the research of the European Commission and the Hellenic Society for Environment and Culture, «in serious danger». In the same survey, it is stated that «Greece can achieve the European Union's target for Renewable Energy Sources systems without the installation of wind farms in protected areas».
The destruction of Paros is coming
While on the island of Paros, the building factor cannot be exceeded and buildings must have a maximum height of 10 metres, the installation of 22 wind turbines 120 metres high has already been approved. The Paros power grid will be connected to Andros, Tinos and Naxos. «They want to turn the Cycladic islands into power plants», says the mayor of Paros with anger, Markos Kovaeus. It explains that «the local community will get absolutely no benefit from this facility and energy production».
«In Paros, two wind farms are planned to be built and 22 new wind turbines 120 metres high are planned to be installed with an electricity production of 75 megawatts per day. While the maximum daily electricity consumption of the whole island in summer is only 25 megawatts», says M. Kovaeus.
«Our island has a mild landscape, with low hills that reach 200 to 250 meters, while there is only one mountain range that reaches 700 meters. So, on these hills, wind turbines of 120 meters will be placed,» the mayor underlines, expressing the universal reaction of the local community.
It even complains that the placement of wind turbines will be anarchic and close to landmarks of outstanding beauty and importance, such as the ancient quarries of Paros, which constitute a world heritage site. It should be noted that since the 6th century BC, Parian marble has been exploited and carved to create the most famous sculptures of antiquity, such as Praxiteles' Hermes, Aphrodite of Milos, the Parthenon or the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.
