Greece’s Council of State (CoS) has approved the transfer of the casino on Mt Parnitha to Maroussi suburb of northern Athens stating “reasons of public interest”!
According to the Fifth Section of the Council of State, the transfer of the Parnitha casino to Maroussi,is being done “for reasons of public interest” and therefore, according to the Supreme Court of Cassation, it can be built.
Therefore, the appeals filed by municipalities, organizations and residents of Maroussi were rejected. In contrast, the interventions of the companies that have undertaken the project and the company that manages the Parnitha casino were accepted.
The appeals sought the annulment of Presidential Decree 36/2023 for the approval of the Special Urban Plan, the determination of land uses, building conditions, etc. in the Delaveri area of Amarousi, arguing, among others, that the contested decree introduces fragmentary urban planning regulation, distorting land uses with fragmentary and photographic provisions.
On their part, residents, organizations and collectives argued that “the planned immediacy of access to the casino and the harsh addiction brought about by gambling will lead to multiple social shipwrecks, dramas, stories of property and personal destruction, delinquency and crime” and that “an area already suffocated by oversized building complexes and unbearable daily traffic will be burdened even more with the operation of the casino.”
The counterargument of investment supporters was reportedly that green spaces and pedestrian streets will be created around the complex, that the traffic nuisance will be compensated by the creation of new roads and that, after the completion of the investment, 25 acres of the 55 will be returned to the Municipality of Maroussi for public uses.
However, in addition to the casino, the construction of a 5-star hotel with 320 beds and an amphitheater with 1,400 seats is also planned, while the entire unit will be developed on an area of 32 acres!