Meeting set for September 30 on Trozena ecological assessment

Limassol, Cyprus. A meeting on the long-awaited Special Ecological Assessment for the proposed Trozena development will be held at the Limassol district local government organisation (EOA) on September 30, Arsos community leader Giannis Giannakis told the Cyprus Mail.

Assessment and planning questions

The Arsos community council requested the meeting as questions remain over the development in and around the abandoned village. Trozena lies within the environmentally sensitive Hapotami Special Protection Area of the Natura 2000 network.

Giannakis said Department of Environment Deputy Director Elena Stylianopoulou and Environment Commissioner Ilias Myrianthous are among the officials expected to attend. The meeting will focus on the assessment and the project’s next steps. The assessment is intended to help determine the development’s environmental implications and the conditions under which it could proceed.

Plans for a wellness development at Trozena have drawn controversy in recent months. In May, the Limassol EOA ordered the suspension of works requiring permits after an inspection found work being carried out without the necessary planning permission. In agreement with the environment department, the EOA subsequently asked the project’s architects to submit a comprehensive master plan so the development could be assessed as a whole.

In July, environmental organisation Terra Cypria alleged that work was continuing without the required environmental and planning approvals. Giannakis disputed the allegation at the time, telling the Cyprus Mail that construction had stopped at the end of May and had not resumed.

Bridge maintenance

Separately, work is underway to preserve Trozena’s British-era metal bridge, and the process of designing a new bridge has begun.

Giannakis said the Arsos community council had asked the Limassol district administration to maintain the existing bridge. “The floor has been replaced, it is in the process of being painted and the foundations will be checked,” he said.