Residents of Dubrovnik on Sunday voted at a referendum to show whether they support or are against the proposed construction of a golf course and villas and hotels on the plateau of Srdj Hill overlooking that southern Croatian coastal town, but their turnout did not pass a threshold of 50%, as 11,977 out of a total of 38,007 eligible voters appeared at polling stations, which was 31.5%, the commission in charge of organising the referendum, reported on Sunday evening.
A minimum turnout required for the referendum to be considered valid is 50%, which means that a half of the town's 38,007 eligible voters, (that is 19,004) should have gone to the polls in order to have a binding outcome of the referendum.
Of those 11,977 residents who went to the polls, 10,051 voted against the project, and 1,846 voted for it, while 77 ballots were invalid, according to the commission
Construction of the Srdj golf park has caused controversy over the past few years and a civil action group has objected to it claiming that it would pave the way to the excessive development on the hill and to the devastation of the environment. This civil society organisation called "Srdj is Ours" managed to collect 9,085 signatures within the necessary time frame of 15 days in February and the Public Administration Ministry approved the petition for the referendum. After that, the local authorities decided that the popular vote on the matter would be held on 28 April.
Town councillors on April 6 adopted the referendum question: "Do you support the adoption of the urban plan which, among other things, approves the construction of a golf course and accommodation facilities (villas, hotels and apartments) on the plateau of Srdj Hill?"
Upon the announcement of the outcome of the referendum, Mrs. Maja Brinar Frenkel, the wife of Mr. Aaron Frenkel, the Israeli investor in this project, said that the data on the turnout showed that residents of Dubrovnik found the project acceptable and that they had opted for it.
Brinar Frenkel told the Croatian Television (HTV) on Sunday evening the outcome of the referendum also sent a message that all investors were welcome in Dubrovnik and in the entire Croatia.
On Monday morning, the "Srdj is Ours" initiative said that the votes of 10,000 residents who were against the development project on Srdj Hill should be deemed as binding for the local authorities.
The anti-golf activists said in a press release they would continue to fight for a spatial planning that would give preference to the interest of residents of Dubrovnik.
