Nea Hora beach, one of the awarded beaches in Chania, is at risk of losing its Blue Flag following a complaint made to the international awarding body by a British resident in Chania. The complaint was made in connection to the illegal sun beds and umbrellas that cover all the available space on the beach leaving no free beach access for visitors and the cleanliness of the beach, and was evidenced by photographs.
Chania council confirmed that the that the beach had temporarily lost its blue flag, and that it is taking urgent measures to restore the beach to Blue Flag specifications.
The deputy mayor responsible, Giorgos Fraggedakis expressed his concern with the developments and said that he will not tolerate any more breaches of the regulations by local businesses.
“We are now employing more cleaning staff to keep the area free of rubbish! He said, but he also acknowledged that there is a serious problem with the sunbed /umbrellas on the beach. “We have lost control of the situation” he said. “The operators go to appeal after appeal and it takes months for a decision to be made before we can fine the illegal operators. … The council will do everything possible to prevent the permanent loss of the Blue Flag.”
Local business owners are also worried that a loss of the blue flag will hurt trade.
Zarpanews.gr reports that according to the Greek office of the blue flag awarding body, the sea water quality is still excellent. The concerns of the awarding body are with beach management, and name cleanliness, access and the state of the toilets as areas of concern that will need significant improvement if the Blue flag is to be retained by Nea Hora beach.
