Lake Geneva residents win waterway access
A public footpath will be built in front of luxury Lake Geneva properties at La Tour-de-Peilz in western Switzerland after residents backed the idea on Sunday.
Almost 55 per cent of voters in the 10,500-strong lakeside town said the waterfront should be accessible to the public.
A plan was launched in November 2008 and signed by 2,174 locals for the construction of a two-kilometre path along the front, ensuring a continuous walkway between the lakeside towns of Villeneuve and Vevey.
Opposition came from villa owners and other residents whose land the footpath will cross. They argued that the footpath would violate Swiss property laws.
There are a number of ongoing waterway access disputes in Switzerland. It is estimated that just 50 per cent of the shores of lakes Zurich, Geneva and Constance are accessible to ramblers.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.