The citizens' group "The garden is ours" is asking for the issue of the works in the Limassol public garden to be included in the agenda of the Limassol City council meeting on Thursday, the day after tomorrow, while asking a series of questions.
In a letter to the Mayor and the Limassol City Council, the group "demands" that the issue of the public garden be discussed at the upcoming session of the city council and that specific questions that arise be discussed and answered.
The group suggests that, according to the Department of Environment, the works in the public garden do not relate to the upgrading of games, but to the construction of a "Theme Park" and therefore, according to the Environmental Impact Assessment of Certain Projects Laws 2018 2021, "you are required to submit a relevant information report for a Reasoned Finding to be prepared so that a decision can be made as to whether the environmental impact of the project needs to be further studied and/or conditions imposed on the planning permission". The question is posed to the Municipality, "when will you comply with this provision and/or when will you force the developer to comply in order to remove the illegality?"
Again according to the Department of Environment, it is added, since this is a "Theme Park" and not a playground, there is a change of use and therefore planning permission should have been secured. "Why are the works continuing without the required permits?", asks the citizens' group "The garden is ours."
It also asks what changes were made to justify the significant increase in the donation, since according to the minutes of the city council meeting, dated 3 June 2021, it unanimously accepted the donation of €1,000,000, while in the subsequent agreement, this amount was increased to €1.750,000.
In connection with the complaint against the City and the contractor by the Forestry Department for four violations, the citizens' group asks to be informed "what the exact fine that the taxpaying citizens will be asked to pay or whether the City and the contractor will be taken to court."
In addition, members of the group are asking for access to the detailed plans and detailed descriptions as they have been developed following the Forestry Department's recommendations to protect the evergreen trees and assurances that there will be no repeat of "the atrocities that occurred in the public garden."
Saying that public consultation is required by law, they also questioned why the issue was not put up for public consultation, given the request expressed by the ETEK, the Association of Architects, the Commissioner for the Protection of Children's Rights, architecture departments of universities in Cyprus, various NGOs, "as well as a number of citizens in two protests."
Source: CNA
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