Akrotiri residents oppose proposed expansion of British antenna site

Akrotiri, Cyprus. Residents and campaigners are opposing a proposed expansion of British antenna installations on the Akrotiri Peninsula, saying it could affect private farmland and the environmentally protected Akrotiri Marsh.

The site, located beyond the peninsula’s salt marsh and wetlands, forms part of a major British military and intelligence installation on the island.

Plans for new installations

Kouris Mayor Pantelis Georgiou told Philenews that a project initially presented as a limited replacement of existing antennas had developed, based on information available to the municipality, into a larger undertaking.

Georgiou said the project could last 10 years, with 68 new antennas planned in the first phase and a further 68 in the second phase. A third phase has not yet been fully outlined to the municipality, he said.

The first phase would also include two new buildings to operate the installations and a third building next to existing facilities, according to Georgiou. He said local authorities had initially been told that the existing building would be demolished and the site returned to public use.

Land and environmental concerns

Campaigners said the original proposal presented to them involved 20 antennas intended to replace equipment installed in 2021. They questioned why this would require the compulsory acquisition of about 450,000 square metres of land.

Melanie Steliou, a local resident and broadcaster for Declassified UK, said Akrotiri Marsh is a sensitive protected environmental area. She said the British government planned a forced land acquisition to install additional antennas.

After seeking information from the Republic of Cyprus’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, campaigners told Declassified UK that they found the project was larger than initially indicated.

Campaigners have accused British authorities of withholding information about the scope of the project.

British sovereign base areas

The dispute concerns the British presence in Cyprus under arrangements established when the island became independent in 1960.

Britain retained sovereignty over the Western Sovereign Base Area around Akrotiri and Episkopi and the Eastern Sovereign Base Area around Dhekelia and Ayios Nikolaos. Together, the areas cover about 254 to 256 square kilometres, or approximately 3% of Cyprus.

The British government describes the areas as sovereign British territory and says their primary purpose is military.

Investigation

An investigation by Mark Curtis and Phil Miller for Declassified UK has sought to examine how Britain has used its main air base in Cyprus to move sensitive equipment without scrutiny.