POOL LAW KILLING SMALL BUSINESS

Cyprus Mail on Sunday - 23 September 2018

Scores of owners facing legal action

By Annette Chrysostomou

The complex has 2 swimming pools which are separated by a bridge so they have to have three lifeguards, one for each and a third for when one of the two is not available. 

OVER 160 apartment complexes in the Paphos district are facing legal action from local municipalities for operating a communal pool without a public swimming pool licence – based on a 1969 law.

A petition asking people to vote for the abolishment of the draconian law regulating swimming pools has now got more than 2,800 signatures. It needs a minimum of 8,000 – not too change the law but simply for forcing the government to set up a committee to investigate the matter.

The requirement for an apartment pool to need a public pool licence contradict European standards and have long been considered disproportionate and outdated. Even though politicians have been discussing this issue for over 10 years and draft regulations were proposed by the interior ministry in 2015, no changes have been made, said communal property expert Russel Flick who started the petition.

“Historically local authorities appeared to be sympathetic to the problem by not taking any major action against apartment complexes without a public pool license.”

“Under current regulations if a swimming pool is shared by more than one property it is considered a public pool and requires a public pool license.  Even if it’s a small communal pool shared by just two houses or a few apartments.”

Requirements to obtain this licence are extensive, and most communal pools in Cyprus – not built to meet these requirements – would need major alterations costing tens of thousands of euros.  They would additionally need to hire a full-time lifeguard.

“We are not calling for an end to regulations on communal pools, all we ask is they are reasonable and proportionate,” Flick explained.

“For example there are environmental issues. The law says that a pool needs to be completely emptied and refilled every month. There is no scientific backing to why this should be done. We should dump tons of water regularly when there is a water shortage?”

There also has to be a life guard at all times, even at times when nobody uses the pool because of the weather conditions. Water temperatures have to be between 24C and 25C.

He says the easiest way is just to abolish the law which has so far not been enforced as it was considered excessive by all concerned and adopt the EU law which makes much more sense, and, instead of simply having two groups, public and private swimming pools, differentiates.

According to the property expert, the action by the municipality is not only a problem for property owners but could deal another blow to the already damaged Cyprus real estate industry and further delay its recovery as international investors are given another reason not to buy property in Cyprus.

For the moment, it would suffice if the municipality suspended their action until this is done.

The municipality does not agree.

“The municipality of Paphos gives a high importance to public health,” Secretary of the municipality Themis Philippides said. “It was decided by the municipal council to comply with the law, and this is not beyond our jurisdiction.”

He explained the municipality is not reacting to an incident such as a drowning, but is acting as a precaution so no accidents happen in future. Those who have a problem with this, he added, should go through the ministry of interior and follow proper legal procedures.

Eoin Morgan is the owner of one of the affected properties and on the committee of owners, which gets to make decisions on the administration of the 104 apartments but as part of the committee he is also personally responsible if things are not done according to the law.

The committee has now been told that they will be prosecuted if they don’t make the changes required by the law.

“We have two swimming pools, which are separated by a bridge, so we have to have three life guards, one for each and a third for when one of the two is not available,” he explained. “One person could easily oversee both.”

In addition, they need to hire an engineer to check the installations and operations on a daily basis. And this is just the personnel.

Other regulations are that the pump room has a cross-ventilation, there should be two changing rooms for men and another two for women, and footpaths to toilets.

All this and more means a lot of expenses – and time to implement.

If the owners do not follow the rules, they should really fence the area and not use the pool. “If there is a drowning, it is a criminal negligence as we are not licensed, and it becomes a police matter which is a serious matter,” Morgan said.

It is not an option to just drain the pool, because then if someone fell in it would also be a crime, plus tourists who are using the complex would most likely stay away.

Morgan says the committee is not being unreasonable, the owners simply don’t have the resources to make all the required changes.

Though more people are being prosecuted recently in Paphos, owners of small tourist establishments have had a problem with it for years.

A small traditional agrotourism establishment in Choirokitia, Larnaca, has been taken to court by the Cyprus Tourism Organisation for non-compliance with the law on swimming pools years ago and there is no end to it.

The owners of Achilles house, which can accommodate six to eight guests, report there has been no progress during the past three years. Though the accommodation is that small, its pool is considered to be public since potentially more than one family can stay.

Nicholas Achilles and his sister Rosanna who are running the small establishment say they had yet another court hearing on Tuesday but the case was postponed until November – again.

“I have gone to court ten times in the past two or three years,” Nicholas Achilles said.

The government wants to invigorate villages, but putting obstacles in the way of small agrotourism is not the way, he added.

“The law smacks of favouritism for big hotels, it was made for them and not changed when we came along.”

They should have put in men and women’s changing rooms, men and women’s toilets, and kept a lifeguard on duty during the swimming pool’s operating hours. The forbidding cost notwithstanding, the house does not even have the space for these to be accommodated.

The law will eventually have to change, Achilles believes, to include the needs of all the smaller places which are a vital part of the local economy. But if it does not happen soon and the Achilles family is judged to be guilty, they will have to close down, as a swimming pool is essential in attracting tourists to a village which is, as Achilles put it, in a desert environment.

See the petition here www.CyprusPoolReform.com