Нормативните актове задължително се публикуват в Държавен вестник
Закона за достъп до обществена информация основание чл.24 ал.1
Отговор-Областна Дирекция МВР-Варна 15-05-2012
Hundreds Protest Construction Plans in Bulgaria s Varna Sea Garden. Hundreds of residents of the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Varna have rallied to protest against construction plans of a powerful murky business group for the city’s Sea Garden.
This is the second protest rally, after a protest in April, against the development plans of „Holding Varna“, a company related to locally all-powerful shady TIM consortium, which include the demolition of the vast park’s seaside alley to erect a number of business buildings.
The notorious Alley One project, as it came to be known, foresees the construction of a yacht port, offices of Maritime Administration, hangars for sea vessels, sports and entertainment facilities, food establishments, a fishermen village, a year-round swimming complex with at least three aqua parks, a medical center, and five hotels at the site.
The protesters had young children carry banners, reading, „Varna Will Protect Its Sea Garden“, while expressing outrage at what they saw as a giving way to shady business interests on the part of Varna Municipality headed by mayor Kiril Yordanov.
They recalled that end of March the Varna Municipality made a revision of the construction and development plan of the city, officially making it allowed to carry out construction in the Sea Garden, Varna’s most famous landmark.
The new plans allowing Holding Varna to proceed with its construction projects will technically downsize the Sea Garden by 62%, the protesters complained.
9 mei 2012
Второ Мирно Протестно шествие – Варна може да защити Морската си градина!
ОУП на гр.Варна предвижда основния трафик към крайбрежната алея да минава по многолентов път между р-т Хоризонт и зоологическата градина завършващ със кръгова серпентина. Виж снимката. pdf – PP2-1
България NR: 1 за разрушаване но не и за стопанисване.
Презастрояване на Черноморието – Застрояването с огромни и разностилни хотели, което наблюдаваме в последните години, е не просто проява на лош вкус и недалновидност. Това е резултатът от комбинацията на неспазване на законите, желание за бърза печалба, пране на пари, липса на информация и нехайство за околната среда. Следствието е: лишаване на местното население от възможността за стопанисване на собствените си земи и развитие на природосъобразен туризъм, за което те ще бъдат насърчавани и финансово подпомагани от Европейския съюз; лишаване на държавата от фондовете на Европейския съюз по отношение на околна среда и налагането на глоби, които обикновения данъкоплатец ще трябва да изплати; превръщането на Черноморието ни в курорт с ограничен достъп за населението; унищожаването на естествената природа на България и лишаване на страната от утвърждаването й като една от най-желаните туристически дестинации – възможност, гарантирана от запазената ни естествена природа и загубена от повечето „развити“ държави.
- To: Letter to Foreign Media, Institutions, Ambassadors
- Date: 25 april 2012
Varna Bulgaria garden
SOS from the Black Sea-Sea Garden of Varna about to be Chopped Off_ENG
SOS from the Black Sea-Sea Garden of Varna about to be Chopped Off_BG
Dear Sir or Madam, Your Excellencies,
We hope you can help us publicize a pressing problem for the city of Varna, a well-known resort town on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The threat of development looms over the city’s iconic Sea Garden. The Sea Garden is the pride of this town and its people. This is why the people of Varna are up in arms, protesting against a series of actions by the local government. In brief, the Sea Garden is being developed for residential construction; people can’t let their children play because of car traffic in the park; and the authorities are about to turn the exception into a rule by officially sanctioning residential construction in most of the existing park territory. All of this is happening behind closed doors, without any effort whatsoever to engage civil society or talk to the people.
The loss of green park territory is a rampant problem in Bulgaria lately. The Sea Garden of Varna, lapped by the waters of the Black Sea, is a unique historic landmark of national eminence. It is also the only substantial city park within the city’s limits. The Sea Garden dates back to the beginnings of the modern Bulgarian state. The visionary city mayor Mihail Koloni approached Anton Novak, a Czech architect renowned for his work all over Europe, to design the park in 1894. Since then, the Sea Garden has constantly grown, to match the needs and aspirations of a vibrant city. The zoning plan currently on the books gives the people of Varna a truly exceptional park space: a green area of alleys and trails stretching along the entire Black Sea coast of the town. For many residents and guests of the city that means walking distance to wonderful jogging, recreation opportunities and paths descending on sandy beaches.
The arrival of democracy in 1989 has not been kind to the park. The people of Varna and the many tourists who love the city have seen the park ebb under the pressure of developers. Buildings pop up in green areas and cars roam freely on pedestrian paths. Green areas turn into parking spaces. Part of the reason is the loss of park territory to restitution after the democratic changes of 1989. Yet, private property is much more of an excuse than a reason to lose the park. There is a widespread conviction among the town’s people that local government is not even trying to fight for their park space, but is effectively conniving with parochial business interests to enable property development.
The zoning rules currently in force in the park allow for only very restricted development on private plots of land. Owners can undertake construction only for projects designated to serve the `public interest’: say, for preschools, kindergartens or museums. In obvious defiance of the rules, the last ten years have witnessed the construction of residential buildings such as condominiums and large apartment complexes. One strategy owners pursue is to get a (legally sound) license for renovation of a historic, usually small, existing building in the park – and then to build – illegally – a much larger development in its place. These buildings do not meet the conditions of their license: there might be a `clinic’ or a `barber shop’ on the first floor, but the rest of the building is sold as residential living space at premium prices. In fact, realtors place ads in the media, announcing the availability of living space in the city’s newest `luxurious’ neighborhood, i.e., the city park. It takes no more than a look at the fences around the new buildings to see the city rules being flouted. The building licenses explicitly prohibit fencing off the property.
Why the city authorities have not defended the public interest is not clear. The fact remains that everyone in the city agrees that the Sea Garden encompasses the entire city coast, from the seaport on one end of town to the so-called “Stanchova” alley at the other end of town. Yet, now the city authorities are telling us that the Sea Garden should be divided in two. One of these parts, so-called by them “historic nucleus” is protected from development. For the other part, popularly known as “Saltanat” those restrictions on development will not apply. This division of the park effectively excludes from the Sea Garden key park landmarks such as the Zoo, restaurant “Horizont”, the „Dolphinarium’’, Karin House, Villa Burov, Stanchova alley. The formal reason is that the Ministry of Culture has failed to designate that area of the park a historic landmark, thereby giving the local authorities a pretext to turn a good part of the park’s current territory into a residential development area.
It is no secret that over the years the state has been selling off park territory in the area of the Sea Garden known as Saltanat and that some of it has passed into private ownership. The state has not had, for the past twenty years, anything resembling a long-term view of the needs of the residents of Varna. The problem is rendered only worse by the failure of the local authorities to put a cap on development efforts and to stem the onslaught of cars on the park’s paths. In fact, the new zoning plan being developed by the city wants to turn some currently pedestrian alleys in the park into streets for car traffic. Since the new plan also envisions development in big chunks of the Sea Garden, the idea to turn alleys into streets and let cars officially roam the park only figures.
The office of the city planner of Varna made an official statement in March of 2012, confirming that construction is slated to commence on a good portion of the Sea Garden’s territory. That was the first time the authorities admitted they are about to let the Sea Garden turn into a huge development site. The announcement drew the citizens of Varna on the streets, and protests have not let up since.
The new zoning plan of the city bears out the city planner’s statement: many areas around the Zoo, the Dolphinarium and other parts of the Sea Garden are marked with the technical designation “Oz1” and “Ok1” – a designation that may allow large buildings on currently green areas. Curiously, the plan does not even reflect the de facto development that has already occurred in areas of the park, reflecting that as green spots. All of this aims to obscure the degree of current loss of park territory for the residents of Varna, while aiming to maximize the degree of future development on land currently designated as park territory.
One of the many ruses our local government uses to facilitate the loss of park territory is related to the lack of a city map of the available park land in the city of Varna. Bulgarian law sets lower limits on the amount of park space each city should guarantee its residents, and stipulates that the mayor is responsible for preparing a map showing the amount of territory that is officially green, park territory in the city. This legal requirement is aimed to guarantee residents access to a reasonable amount of recreational areas. The city of Varna is in violation of this legal requirement at least since 2008: there is no such map. It is widely known that should such a map be created, the city of Varna will fall well short of the legally required park area per resident. Continuous development and growing population make this all but a sure thing. Creating the map is relatively simple task, and one that can be carried out in the space of a month or two. We believe the city drags its feet in order to be able to continue to develop park territory while not revealing itself as flagrant violator of the minimal requirements the law gives residents.
Another obvious problem in the park is the ubiquitous presence of vehicles. There is a prohibition on motor vehicles in the park but the city does nothing to enforce it. Walking paths are used as streets. Green areas turn into parking lots. In fact, we have cases of accidents, in which cars hit pedestrians strolling in the park!
No one in local government tells us why the area of the Sea Garden known as “Saltanat” is being developed. No one tells us why we see fences going up in green areas (against the law), and why the cars are everywhere. No one checks recent residential developments to note the many violations of their building licenses. The mayor has `banned’ development in the park, but that ban is only good for two years and it is up already. The authorities would only vouch for no development in a much smaller area of the Sea Garden, the one designated by them as “historic nucleus”. This division of the Sea Garden has zero legitimacy among the residents of Varna. We believe our local authorities have given up our park.
In conclusion, we turn to you to help us spread the word, investigate, and put pressure on local and national leaders about this theft of park land from the residents of Varna. One out of ten Bulgarians lives in the city. The city is also a favorite tourist destination. The nearby Black Sea resorts, among them Golden Sands and Albena, make Varna a well-known destination in Europe and beyond. We are determined to protest the onslaught on our spectacular coastal park. We want our authorities to understand that they are not to give away a beloved landmark with over 100 years of history. The people want their park!
Residents of grad Varna, Жителите на град Варна
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in Northern Bulgaria, third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, and 92nd-largest in the European Union, with a population of 358,724 (500,502 in Varna Province). Commonly referred to as the marine (or summer) capital of Bulgaria, Varna is a major tourist destination, business and university centre, seaport, and headquarters of the Bulgarian Navy and merchant marine, as well as the centre of Varna Province.
City landmarks include:
– the Varna Archaeological Museum, exhibiting the Gold of Varna, which isthe oldest gold treasure in the world, excavated in 1972 and dating to 4600-4200 BCE and it ccupies three separate exhibition halls;
– the Roman Baths
– the Battle of Varna Park Museum
– the Naval Museum in the Italianate Villa Assareto displaying the museum ship Drazki torpedo boat
– the Museum of Ethnography in an Ottoman-period compound featuring the life of local urban dwellers, fisherfolk, and peasants in the late 19th and early 20th century.
– More information about the city of Varna you can find HERE.