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« on: November 24, 2005, 11:48:56 AM »
Hi Beachcombers,
The inescapable truth is that economic imperatives were always going to drive development of what were once unspoiled areas. Greece needed, needs and will continue to need the revenues which foreign investment brings and government policy is to encourage this. So in my opinion it was unavoidable. And of course Greece is not alone in this.
I first visited Crete in 1971 and so have seen a lot of change. Some of it has been poorly thought through, badly designed and casually executed. Some has been properly considered, sensitively planned and carefully completed. All of it, at least in theory, has been subject to official consent but it would be naive to ignore the reality that the locals are not as caring for their own environment as we might like them to be.
Some areas of the north coast have been irreparably spoiled - to the eternal discredit of all involved. Other areas have seen development which was not for the better but, in the circumstances, was at least tolerable. My idealistic side would rather that Crete was still as I first knew it but my pragmatic side accepts that change is inevitable.
I do not work with developers which I think will bring the kind of negative change I described above. Don't be misled by some of the computer-generated images which you may have seen on our website: I am the first to recognize that these are not particularly easy on the eye. But I have seen the finished product elsewhere and in my opinion it is very acceptable.
So although I may not be as altruistic as you neither am I the kind of cold-hearted capitalist who is solely motivated by greed and displays total disdain for the local environment. I'm the last person to judge myself but I hope others see me as having a balanced approach.
John