Since the Resident (and algarvedailynews) highlighted the case of two British theatre VIPs caught up in the Ria Formosa demolitions debacle, major news services in Portugal have started covering the story.
SIC, Público, Expresso have all featured the plight of Paul Roseby and James Tod who are both working hard “behind the scenes” to save their dream home on the island of Armona from government-backed bulldozers.
Olhão mayor António Pina has told television crews that as far as his council is concerned, the house is legal - as are 139 other properties on the wrong side of an invisible line cited by environment agency APA.
Pina went so far as to suggest the demolition order hanging over the lives of Roseby and Tod is the “attitude of one person” retaliating over the defeat of his desire for mass demolitions on Culatra island.
That person is Sebastião Teixeira, the man whose signature appears on the bottom of the letter informing the British friends that their home must be demolished by April 6 or will be compulsorily seized and then bulldozed (click here).
Needless to say, Roseby tells SIC that he will be shipping friends over to “stand on the roof and be inside” if and when demolition day arrives.
“I will strap myself to the walls and they can knock me down too. I will fight very hard for this”, he added, “because I have worked very hard for this”.
SIC reports that the couple have lodged a legal bid against APA - taking their expenses into the tens of thousands - while Olhão complains the environment agency’s stance over Armona has left it missing out on potential millions in community funding.
