Paolo Negroni, Riva Toscana golf resort owner, attacks Follonica mayor, vows TAR appeal

Paolo Negroni, owner of the Riva Toscana golf resort & spa in Follonica, Italy, has launched a public attack on Mayor Andrea Benini and the municipal administration.

“Whisper it quietly, but by the end of 2028 it has been predicted that there will be more rounds of virtual golf played in the UK than outdoors ones”

BBC

Negroni describes his entrepreneurial journey as a 'four-year odyssey' marked by bureaucratic entanglements and broken promises.

BBC

The entrepreneur invested 10 million euros in Maremma, a region he has known since childhood, after purchasing a property with existing golf resort designation.

Despite initial agreements with the mayor and municipal officials to incorporate his project into Variant 8 of the structural plan, none of the proposed improvements have been approved over the past four years.

Negroni's proposed improvements included 55 additional beds, expanded machinery depots, and tertiary water treatment reuse.

The conflict escalated when Negroni was denied permission to construct a garage to house maintenance machinery valued at over 500,000 euros.

This denial prompted him to pursue legal action through Italy's TAR (Tribunio Amministrativo Regionale) administrative court system.

Il Giunco.net

The entrepreneur claims to have lost a 6 million euro CONI sports loan due to the bureaucratic delays and denials.

Negroni describes the situation as a 'real odyssey' where 'promises have been undermined by acts and political choices in stark contrast with the city's tourist development.'

He vows to continue his fight, hoping his story will inspire other entrepreneurs to demand 'a radical shift in the town's administration.'

The timeline of Negroni's struggles reveals a pattern of bureaucratic obstacles that began in June 2018 when he first met with Mayor Benini and municipal officials.

“Whisper it quietly, but by the end of 2028 it has been predicted that there will be more rounds of virtual golf played in the UK than outdoors ones”

BBC

Despite mutual agreements to insert his golf project into Variant 8 of the structural plan, the proposal was adopted without the golf project in September 2018.

The entrepreneur later obtained a favorable CONI opinion for homologation of his complete project in December 2019, securing authorization for the 6-million-euro sports loan.

Bureaucratic complications continued when the city council approved moving the golf area outside the urban perimeter in November 2019.

This triggered complex regional coprojection conferences and environmental assessments that effectively stalled the project.

Negroni has accused the municipal administration of providing 'excessive and incorrect data' to regional authorities.

He claims officials reported he requested 5,700 square meters of new surfaces for a total intervention of 7,470 square meters.

Il Giunco.net

Negroni states his actual applications requested only 1,172 square meters for a total of 3,600 square meters.

This alleged misinformation, according to Negroni, subjected the project to unnecessary environmental assessments and constraints that delayed completion.

The entrepreneur notes that Mayor Benini and officials offered three different, none credible, explanations for the data discrepancy during official settings.