After a couple of weeks of heated debates, protests and media coverage, the Supreme Expert Environmental Council decided to grant permission for construction at the Strandja nature park by approving Tsarevo’s municipality master development plan on July 31.

The council approved the minimal corrections done on the environmental assessment of the area, which Environment and Water Affairs Minister Djevdet Chakurov sent back for a statistics update on July 22. Environmentalists from the coalition To Sustain the Nature in Bulgaria were saying that the number of protected species and habitats in the area in reality exceeded the numbers stated in the report.

Deputy Environment Minister Chavdar Georgiev admitted that the newly approved plan differed slightly from its controversial version presented for review several months ago, Dnevnik daily reported. The plan envisioned further build-up of park territories, including the coastline. The council imposed mild restrictions regarding the acceptable height of the buildings, and density of construction.

The most significant prohibition foresaw that construction on either side of any river in the area happen no less than 150m from the banks of the river itself. Activists from To Sustain the Nature in Bulgaria initially proposed 200m, and reacted on the decision, stating that the allowed construction-free strip was not enough.

Changes in the plan would most likely legalise and resume the construction of the infamous Golden Pearl holiday complex near the village of Varvara. A golf course in the same was also included in the plan, as the recommendation by experts suggested careful handling of natural vegetation in the area.

According to Dnevnik daily, only Ivan Kambourov, a Strandja nature park specialist, had voted against the plan, stating that because of it, the park’s territory would be curtailed by more than 900ha. Despite the media interest, Kambourov was not allowed to speak at the news conference held July 31, Dnevnik reported.

Kalin Tiholov, a building designer, has spoken in favour of the plan, saying, as quoted by Dnevnik, that the urbanisation of the park would only take up to 480ha, and within strict regulations at that. Tiholov has said that future developments in the park would create more jobs for the small villages located away from the seashore.

Activists also said that the regulations regarding the height of buildings and construction density had nothing to do with nature preservation. Some of them have been quoted as saying that the building-up will go as planned, with no consideration of possible environmental implications.