Gournes: gathering at the Archdiocese over the quarry

A protest gathering was held on Wednesday 19 August outside the Holy Archdiocese of Crete in Heraklion, with the demand that the lease for the operation of a facility handling excavation, construction and demolition waste at the old quarry in the location known as “Dyo Gkremoi Anopolis”, at Gournes in the Municipality of Chersonisos, not be renewed. Residents and representatives of local bodies submitted a memorandum accompanied by roughly 2,000 signatures, together with resolutions from local cultural associations and from the community. During the demonstration those gathered held black flags and banners. According to the local media that covered the gathering, the action had been decided at a general assembly of the area on 10 August, while the lease on the site expires in 2027.

The question of the facility at the disused quarry has occupied the area for months and has passed through a series of institutional bodies. As emerges from the evidence cited by residents, negative opinions have been issued by the Chersonisos Municipal Council, the Environment and Spatial Planning Committee of the Region of Crete, the Ephorate of Antiquities of Heraklion and the Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology and Speleology. The involvement of the latter two services is linked to the archaeological and speleological interest of the wider Anopolis area. What is particular about the case is that the land is leased out by a Church body, which moved the protest from the municipal and regional bodies to the seat of the Archdiocese. Residents maintain that non-renewal of the lease would settle the matter without a new administrative procedure.

Gournes lies in one of the most densely populated coastal zones of the northern axis, between Heraklion and the large tourist centres of the Municipality of Chersonisos, with a permanent population that multiplies during the summer months. Local bodies link the operation of the facility to issues of dust, heavy vehicle traffic and the further burdening of a landscape that already bears the marks of the old quarrying activity. For the organisers, the stance of the Church as lessor is considered a critical factor. “The Church’s help is decisive,” said the president of the Gournes Cultural Association, Nikos Somaras. Residents have set up a five-member coordinating committee to follow developments and to represent the area in its contacts with the services.

The memorandum also includes a request for an amendment to article 55 of law 4710/2020, which concerns the framework for the restoration of disused quarries and the siting of facilities managing aggregate materials. At the same time, a meeting has been requested with the Secretary General of the Decentralised Administration of Crete, since a significant part of the permitting powers ends up there. So far no public position has become known from the Holy Archdiocese of Crete on the residents’ request, nor on whether non-renewal of the lease will be considered. The next substantive moment for the case remains the expiry of the lease in 2027, unless some decision at the permitting level or a legislative change comes first.