Cyprus Auditor General warns of irregular urban planning practices

A report by the Auditor General of Cyprus, Andreas Papakonstantinou, has revealed significant weaknesses in the state's urban planning control mechanisms. The audit highlights how the process for granting planning permissions by exception, managed by the Council for the Study of Deviations (SYMEPA), risks becoming a parallel licensing system rather than a tool for extraordinary cases.

The report identifies instances where unauthorized developments were effectively legalized and where negative recommendations from planning authorities were overturned. In one notable case, a facility in an industrial zone that had been rejected for use as a supermarket in 2012 and 2014 was eventually granted a temporary four-year license by the Council of Ministers, despite warnings that such a move would reward illegal development.

Auditor General Papakonstantinou warned that the systematic use of exceptions threatens to undermine urban planning, the environment, and the principle of equal treatment for citizens. The findings also point to extreme delays, with some applications remaining pending for over 13 years, and the approval of residential buildings on agricultural land outside designated development zones.