Filenews 25 July 2023 - by Angelos Nicolaou
The Environmental Impact Assessment Study for the construction and operation of the new CFA National Sports Centre in Kornos will be in public consultation until August 12, 2023.
The cost of implementing the project is estimated at approximately €16,000,000, part of which will be covered by a sponsorship from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
The purpose of the Sports Center is to meet the needs of national football teams, following the standards of similar sports centers of other European federations and will include a central stadium with a capacity of 1,500 seats, three auxiliary training grounds, a guest house for athletes and auxiliary facilities (warehouses, locker rooms, clinic, gym, conference rooms, etc.). In addition, the new CFA offices will be housed within the premises, so that all those who work and are related to the CFA will be concentrated in the same facilities. The facilities will be able to host various kinds of conferences, seminars and educational programs directly related to CFA, national teams and football.
The National Sports Centre will provide high quality training grounds for all national teams, for matches of all national teams except the men's national team, as well as facilities for organizing various events and educational programs, thus providing the best conditions for the development and improvement of the federation and football.
The project will be erected within a state plot at the location "Cannes" of the community of Kornos in Larnaka District. An agreement has been concluded for the lease of the state land, with a total area of 145,845 sq.m.. The study area falls within urban planning zones H3 (Zone with Dominant Residential Use) at a rate of 27.3% and Z1 (Protection Zone) at a rate of 72.7%, while urban planning is covered by the Policy Statement for the Rural Area (Larnaka District).
The location of the project in a central point of Cyprus with easy access from the motorway, make the site perfectly suitable to meet the above needs and will facilitate athletes from all districts of Cyprus.
Within the study plot there are about 650 trees (pines, acacias, eucalyptus, olives, etc.), more than half of which will be cut down. About half of the trees are alien species of flora in relation to the area (eg olives and carob trees) and generally alien species such as acacias, reeds and eucalyptus. Based on the design of the project, it is estimated that about 360 trees will be cut down, while the remaining 290 can be incorporated into the project. Of the 360 trees that will be cut down, about 200 concern large rough pine trees (height >2.50m), 100 young rough pine trees, while the rest mainly concern acacias, which are an alien and intensely invasive species.
The number of olives and locust beans that will be cut down is negligible, as these were mainly found in the areas that will be allocated for public green spaces. It is noted that older pines are not technically possible to transplant, while transplanting pines with a height of <70cm can be successful under certain conditions.
