End of the jewel of the med for me.

[solic200]

You think you have found the ideal home in the countryside then this crap government decide that builders can erect 3 storey flats that overlook your house and garden with endless dust and noise from 6.30am until 7.30pm days a week. My pool cant be used as it has so much soil blowing in every day so i am thinking of planting trees in it.
For me personally after living here 15yrs, I think north cyprus is losing its charm that it was once renowned for.
I also feel for my local cypriot neighbours that have built up there lives and homes from 74 only to have their privacy taken away from them.

[dippersgirl]

I'm really very sorry for you.
I'm always scared that suddenly Dipkarpaz will change. There is always the university looming, but at least its at the far end of the village.
Also one of the fields very near us is owned by somebody, who wants to turn it into a laundry!! Hopefully that will not happen at the moment as one of the council members owns the only laundry.....
And motivating Cypriots or Turks to protest or actually do something....they moan, but in the end it's just 'inshalla'!!!!

[Briannu]

Yes we have been here for 12 years and are thinking the same way. We luckily sold our penthouse in Upper Kyrenia two years ago, and rented in Esentepe whilst we "mulled things over" Meanwhile our old friends and neighbours are now being surrounded by monstrous 7 or 9 storey buildings, five of them with a 1 minute walk. That's the sea view gone and the extra traffic in the area is horrendous this last year or so.
Still its been nice while it lasted, Newcastle here we come, well in November.

[Makum]

Things could not stay the same forever, but changes here have certainly not always been for the better. After being away from the Uk for the past 12 years I don't suppose that will have changed for the better either so in some ways it's a case of better the devil you now know.
If an agreement is ever on the cards, and embargoes are lifted expect a lot more changes that will no doubt render the place a hell hole . So the moral of the story is if you don't like what your seeing now it's time to light the fuse and foxtrot Oscar as they say.

[maggie]

We have been coming to the north for the last eight years and the changes have not been for the better. When are they going to stop building rows of shops which remain empty. As you come out from the Acapulco turning towards Girne further down on the left hand side I counted thirty shops being built all in one row. Goodness knows why. This beautiful place is being spoilt by all the skeleton houses all over the place. I wish the builders would be told to pull them down if not completed.

[MikeK]

If you think these tower blocks are ugly now, wait five years and see what the lack of maintenance will bring.
Just look at any of the low rise apartment blocks on any back street of Girne. Flaking paint, crumbling concrete, dismal dark dingy entrance areas and all strewn with rubbish. If these low rise apartments suffer from neglect (do residents pay annual maintenance costs for repairs etc?) then what chance is there of these high rise monstrosities being maintained?
Also do these "palaces" in the sky have lifts? with all the power cuts, would you chance using them. Also will the lifts be maintained to the high standards legally required across Europe, I doubt it.

[Maisiemoo]

When we first came over, 20 years ago, no building was supposed to be higher than a palm tree (or 2 stories high), on Rauf Denktas's orders. Sadly those days are long gone and I'm dreading when they build on the orchard behind us as I am sure they will do one day.

[Mollie the cat]

Sadly we know of more people leaving the Island this year than ever before. Obviously they all have their reasons for leaving, but instances as described in this and other threads don't help the country.

[Owl Lady]

I have to hold my hands up as a guilty party, by buying land and having a house built here. Locals probably moaned like hell then, as I am sure I have, unintentionally,spoilt someone else's view. Anyone else prepared to own up?

[harita]

This is in the middle of the Turkish quarter in Girne .. They will be in "spitting distance" from the back fence of our friends house ..
How have developers/builders got away with this project .. Should never have been allowed ..
The footings have just been started

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... J-FiF-4Qfc

[kaiserphil]

harita - we all know the answer to your question

[bargainboozeandwines]

And you thought planning regs here are bad..Read some of the comments after the story. What a farce !

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/mi ... ed-7748962

[Owl Lady]

One of the comments at the end of this video has the "audacity" to suggest there may have been a "Bribe" paid!!!!He will probably be hung, drawn an quartered for that remark.!!! What a mess for that poor couple. Makes this country not look too bad after all.!

[Makum]

Goodness me owl lady a bribe paid in N Cyprus I cannot believe such a thing would occur among these decent hard working and honest people, role me another joint, I can't see and bad drivers or rubbish today either.

[Groucho]

This is in the middle of the Turkish quarter in Girne .. They will be in "spitting distance" from the back fence of our friends house ..
How have developers/builders got away with this project .. Should never have been allowed ..
The footings have just been started

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... J-FiF-4Qfc

It's going to look simply awful - out of character, totally unwarranted and unwanted...

[woodspeckie]

And you thought planning regs here are bad..Read some of the comments after the story. What a farce !

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/mi ... ed-7748962

I didn't think it would be long before the UK came into the post.

[Owl Lady]

No Makum, the bribe was in England!!Have you watched the video?

[MikeK]

Harita.
Re;the video / cartoon!, talk about "poetic licence" if this is the development between Çanakkale Sokak and Bahçelievler Sokak I am no Town Planner or Architect but there is absolutely no way the developers are going to fit the tower blocks, the pool, car parking and that amount of grassed area into the space they have available there.

The potential tenants for all those tower blocks, a conservative 200 ish? (probably a lot more) with a potential 140+ cars (probably a lot more) where are they going to park?
Also the footings laid to date, right at the front of the vehicular access to the site from Bahçelievler Sokak a single track road through a housing estate!

[PoshinDevon]

Unfortunately nowhere stands still and there will always be change which I agree is not always for the better.

In our small Devon village I recall a submission for a bungalow to be built on a piece of land in the centre of the village....many years ago there was an old property on the land which eventually had to be demolished - over the many following years it had slowly returned to a rough piece of land. When planning was submitted for the bungalow many where up in arms about it (Many protestors were new arrivals in thevillage) who thought this rough piece of land should be left.......eventually the couple seeking to build the property were so upset at the vehement backlash that they sold the land to a developer.......5 properties were built!
So it happens in the UK as well.

Coming back to Cyprus, having lived in both the south during the early 70s, 80s and 90s and now having a small place here in the north we have seen huge changes. However for us because possibly we know the island so well we feel we can always find old haunts where many would never go - so for us the place still holds a certain magic

Easy to say but if I was offering any advice to potential buyers it would be research and consider carefully.....is your lovely view protected, is the surrounding land vacant/for sale or there any chance at sometime in the future someone would want to build in front. Have to agree it can really be a lottery at times and dreams can be shattered easily here.

Overall tho we still believe that despite change it is still a lovely place despite the challenges that sometimes get in the way - having lived and visited for 40+ years the island still draws us back.

[northerngirl]

We live outside a village if 10 houses and off the road. It took us nearly 7 months to get permission to build a three room structure, in lieu of a shed and garage, in our front garden. It was a farce with all the paperwork an tooing and throwing. I don't know how planning permission is granted but bribery makes alot of sense. As expats we all invest a lot of money into this country and not wanting special treatment but I think that the way could be made a lot easier. It seems they think of a reason and a number to not pass permission. It took them 6 weeks to tell us that we didn't have a church in our garden! We could have told them that or they could have read the village plan.

[karmels]

northerngirl.
Welcome to the TRNC, every person who works for the Government think they are special and they will look you in the eye and /// well you can guess the rest.

[northerngirl]

We are learning!

[Hector]

If you think these tower blocks are ugly now, wait five years and see what the lack of maintenance will bring.
Just look at any of the low rise apartment blocks on any back street of Girne. Flaking paint, crumbling concrete, dismal dark dingy entrance areas and all strewn with rubbish. If these low rise apartments suffer from neglect (do residents pay annual maintenance costs for repairs etc?) then what chance is there of these high rise monstrosities being maintained?
Also do these "palaces" in the sky have lifts? with all the power cuts, would you chance using them. Also will the lifts be maintained to the high standards legally required across Europe, I doubt it.

Spot on I'm afraid. Sad but true.