Local Bodrum administrative & nongovernmental organisations are criticizing the Culture & Tourism Ministry & the Environment & Forestry Ministry for dividing the Bodrum Peninsula into sections comprising north & east in order to make two separate planning zones.
The northern districts of Yalıkavak, Gündoğan & Göltürkbükü were designated as “tourism centres” last year, & consequently the Culture & Tourism Ministry handles their zone planning.
Meanwhile, there is confusion with Bodrum, Konacık, Yalı, Bitez, Gümüşlük, Turgutreis, Ortakent-Yahşi & Mumcular districts in the southern section. The municipalities of those districts are preparing their own smaller more detailed plans with scales of 1/1,000 & 1/5,000, provided that they adhere to the Environment & Forestry Ministry’s plan that has a scale of 1/100,000.
Filiz Dizdar, spokesperson for the Mavi Yol Initiative, said her organization believes the zoning plans being made by both ministries aim to plunder the natural sites of the Bodrum peninsula.
She added that the Mavi Yol Initiative had in the past offered reports to the courts from the Chamber of Architects & universities in order to stop the execution of such plans. “This time, by dividing the Bodrum peninsula, the ministries are both tying the local administrations hands & mesmerizing them with promises that are impossible to keep, such as, if [a certain place] becomes a tourism area, we will support the infrastructure [of that place] through infrastructure service teams,” Dizdar said.
The plans referred to were taken to court over 100 times, & 100,000 signatures were collected to protest their execution, according to Dizdar, who added, that now the ministries were trying different tactics to implement the plans. “No plan without taking the opinions of the local administrations into account & evaluating their objections would be beneficial for Bodrum,” she said.
Mahmut Yıldırım, representative for the Bodrum Chamber of Architects, said the leading tourism, historic, cultural & natural aspects of Bodrum face danger of destruction because of the ministries plans, which are not set to preserve but to provide employment & income.
Yıldırım also pointed out that a 1/250,000 scale plan for Turkey does not yet exist.
Yıldırım said they were obliged to file many lawsuits because the ministries compete with each other in making & implementing plans for areas that would provide income. “The irregularity that appears due to the cancelling of zoning plans as the cases are won increases unplanned zoning in Bodrum & similar areas,” said Yıldırım. “We [the architects] can notify the details of the plans the ministries make for Bodrum the moment the construction starts. Lack of planning should not be the fate of Bodrum anymore.”
Bodrum mayor remarked that the town had filed three separate cases & won against the ministries plans, which were aimed at providing income & plundering the land.
He said such plans & the disregard for local opinion caused the town to lose at least 20 years.
“Finally, we have made plans of 1/1,000 & 1/5,000 scales, adhering to the Environment & Forestry Ministry’s 1/100,000 scaled plan & have offered them for approval by the Muğla Cultural & Natural Heritage Preservation Board,” he said.
He added if the town gets approval, the bus station, fruit & vegetable market, industrial site & education & cultural facilities would be moved to new locations in the Torba neighbourhood after 20 years. “Bodrum has suffered a lot from lack of planning or the plans that were made disregarded its architectural features,” adding that they needed long-term plans that would not destroy the beauty of Bodrum.
The Yalıkavak mayor said his party & the municipalities of Gündoğan & Göltürkbükü supported the ministerial plans that were aimed at preservation & utilization, but they have some worries about the plans & have notified the ministry of them. He believes these concerns would be taken into account.
“The worst plan is better than the lack of one, Bodrum has spent the last 20 years with a lack of planning & the wrong plans. The authority to make plans specifically for tourism zones belongs to the Culture & Tourism Ministry, according to the Tourism Encouragement Law. The authority being taken from the Public Works & Settlement Ministry for the Culture & Tourism Ministry gave us hope for finishing the plans that cannot be completed for years,” he said.
He added that he counted the enlargement of Torba-Göltürkbükü-Yalıkavak road, the sewer system & the recycling of solid wastes as primary problems requiring a solution from the ministry. “We will support every plan that would prioritize preservation & utilization,” he said. “We are ready for cooperation.”
