A beach villa currently being built on the cliff at Ao Sane was deemed to be illegal by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, reports local media. The 12-meter high development violates the legal maximum height of 6 meters set for the area.
The owner of the villa was told to demolish the upper area in order to bring it in line with legal requirements. In addition to this, the Rawai Municipality, the entity who issued the building permit, will now be investigated by a committee organised by the Phuket Governor’s office.
“The Land Office has confirmed that the title deed is legal. However, according to the report from the Phuket Marine Office, the project is mostly within 20 metres from the highest sea level which only allows a maximum height of 6 metres and is restricted to single story only. Some parts of the project are located further in Zone 2, which is categorised as being 50 metres away from highest sea level and would be allowed a maximum height of 12 metres if it is a single house design,” says an official to reporters from the Phuket Gazette.
Under current plans, the villa would block a sea view on the road between Rawai and Ao Sane, which is close to the Laem Krating viewpoint. However, the owners will now need to demolish the areas that are too high in order to abide by local regulations.
“Rawai Municipality is responsible for suspending the project until the owner of the project follows the building codes, especially the height of the buildings that can only be 6 metres high. If the project doesn’t comply and make a change to the height within 30 days, all departments concerned in the case will be subject to a lawsuit. The Rawai Municipality who issued the 30 days suspension will be authorised to demolish the construction,” says the government official.
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