Cyprus’s Department of Environment has found large-scale construction work under way at the Trozena development without the required environmental and planning permits, in an area that falls within the “Cha Potami” Special Protection Area (SPA) of the Natura 2000 network.
The department is awaiting submission of a general spatial plan, or master plan, and a Special Ecological Assessment Study (SEAS) covering all the individual projects that make up the Trozena development, before it can assess their environmental impact.
Some of the sub-projects involved, including a restaurant/café and a reception area, have already been completed, while others are at an advanced stage of construction, all before the necessary permits had been granted.
Licensing history
According to the department’s data, six separate applications for planning and building permits were submitted between 2023 and 2025 for individual projects in the community. These included the creation of a private car park with fencing, a café, a single-family house with an office and gym, a winery with additions and alterations to existing buildings, metal fencing and dry-stone walls, and a nature trail.
However, the department’s examination, including its assessment of the SEAS, found that the development includes further projects and constructions for which no application had ever been submitted.
In most cases, the work involves levelling land and clearing low vegetation within the protected Natura 2000 zone, without the legally required environmental impact assessment process taking place beforehand.
To allow examination of the projects to be completed, the department has asked for an Environmental Impact Assessment Study (EIAS) to be submitted for the master plan of the whole development. It has also asked for an updated SEAS covering all the individual projects, so that the impact on the environment and the SPA can be assessed overall and cumulatively.
