7,083 of 10,707 trees planned to be cut down for school complex in Fasouri

The master plan for the Fasouri Academy and Sports Hub educational and sports complex in the municipality of Kato Polemidia near Limassol has been submitted to Cyprus’s planning authorities for review. The complex is designed for 4,500 students, and 7,083 trees are planned to be cut down to make way for the development.

The applicant is seeking approval for the entire master plan at once; separate applications for construction permits for each part of the complex will be submitted later. The developer is not named in the published materials.

The plan provides for three school buildings covering all stages from preschool to lyceum. The floor area is 307,844 sq. m, the staff will comprise 145 teaching and administrative employees, and the parking facilities will include 643 car spaces and 57 bus spaces. The second part of the project is a sports centre with an indoor hall, swimming pool, running tracks and facilities for football, tennis, basketball and padel; subject to certain conditions, it is also promised to be opened to local residents.

The disputed issue is the status of the plots. The development affects around 360,000 sq. m of environmentally sensitive land, most of which falls within the Z1 protection zone under the planning policy for the British Sovereign Base Area of Akrotiri — a category for the protection of archaeological sites, landscapes and riverbeds. It became possible to develop land in the bases after an agreement between Nicosia and London in 2014, when around 78% of their territory was included in planning zones.

A total of 10,707 trees were counted on the plots, mainly cypresses, mandarin trees and pomegranate trees. A total of 7,083 are to be cut down: 4,309 pomegranate trees, 2,774 mandarin trees and rows of cypresses. The plan promises to preserve 3,624 fruit trees. In return, 2,800 new trees are proposed — 1,738 cypresses, 689 pine trees and 373 urban landscaping trees, or less than 40% of the number to be cut down.

Within a one-kilometre radius of the site are Fasouri Watermania water park, My Mall Limassol shopping centre and the City of Dreams Mediterranean casino resort. No decision on the master plan had been made as of 27 August, and the date when it will be considered has not been announced.