The Municipality of Burgas sends a new request to the MRRB for the restoration of the alley to “Sarafovo”: Black Sea Lighthouse

The Municipality of Burgas is preparing a new request for the restoration of the coastal promenade to “Sarafovo”, which will be sent to the MRRD. After the strong wind and the powerful wave during the past weekend, part of it fell into the sea. This made her unusable. To reach the neighborhood, pedestrians and cyclists now have to take the much more inconvenient “farm” road above. Fortunately, no one was injured in the collapse of the state-owned field.

In the months of April and May 2022, the Municipality of Burgas for the first time asked for help from the state to stop the collapse of a part of a coastal street with a bicycle lane to the “Sarafovo” quarter. In July of last year, she sent a second letter to the Regional Administration and the Ministry of Regional Development. Effective steps to solve the problem did not follow.

After that, the Municipality of Burgas urgently prepared a project, with which the measures to strengthen the landslide were specified and valued. And provided it to MRRB.

The ministry responded as follows in a letter dated June 19 this year:

“Apparently from the received documentation, the Municipality of Burgas commissioned the presented project, which affects properties that are not its property. The Municipality of Burgas does not have the rights of a contractor within the meaning of Art. 161 of the ZUT for the implementation of the completed project, given the ownership of the affected properties. In view of the above, we return the submitted investment project.”

In a letter dated August 2 this year, the regional governor reiterated the regional minister’s point and added that:

“Given the public importance of the coastal street for the residents and guests of Burgas, you can at this stage make a request to the Ministry of Regional Development, through the Regional Governor of the Burgas Region, to declare the property as private state property and transfer it free of charge in accordance with Art. 54 of the VAT, in order to implement the bicycle lane provided for in the detailed development plan”, reports the Municipality of Burgas

* The background:

After the initial collapse and the first call for help from the Municipality, the regional governor organized an on-site meeting with experts from “Geoprotection” EAD – Varna. “Geoprotection” sent a statement with findings and recommendations. According to them, the problem was caused by surface water. Two of the recommendations related to restricting traffic along the alley and placing the necessary signage were quickly implemented by the Municipality of Burgas. Corresponding traffic signs and an embankment were placed to prevent vehicular and pedestrian traffic. However, the passage of cyclists and pedestrians there continued. There is still movement today, as you can see in the photo gallery.

The third recommendation was related to the need to take actions for surface drainage and asphalting. Since the affected property is state property, these actions should be taken by the state.

Meanwhile, the daily observations carried out by the Municipality’s experts showed that the destructive processes are not abating, but deepening. Therefore, with her own funds, she ordered a thorough inspection to be carried out by independent experts with the relevant professional qualifications. According to them, the main reason for the destabilization of the terrain is sea abrasion. Another reason is the disturbance of the balance of the sediments in this territory, as a result of the built shore strengthening dam. In order to protect the coast from subsequent adverse erosion and landslide processes, they recommended that the dam be extended by 300 m in the direction of the town of “Ugla”.

Even then, the Municipality of Burgas declared as disturbing the fact that there was a discrepancy in the opinions of the state-owned “Geozashchita” EOOD – Varna and the private “Proekt Troy” EOOD – Varna. Therefore, she continued to insist on taking adequate actions by the state to secure the coast, and thus also to protect people’s lives and health.