In the Ingul district of Mykolaiv, preparatory work has begun for the construction of an OKKO gas station, an ATB supermarket and a car shop, which involves the demolition of 182 trees aged 40-60 years.
This was reported by the local publication MikVisti.
The green zone to be built up is located at the intersection of Bohoyavlensky Avenue and Kobera Street, between high-rise buildings and the territory of the State Enterprise Zorya-Mashproekt.
On May 7, the contractor and a representative of the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine, Natalia Barchuk, inspected the site. According to estimates, 182 trees, mostly oaks, are to be destroyed for the project.
Photo: nikvesti.com.
The representative of the ecological inspection explained that at this stage, they are only drawing up an act of inspection of green spaces. It is necessary for further obtaining conclusions on the environmental impact assessment (EIA), without which the developer has no right to carry out any preparatory or construction work.
“According to the plan, 182 trees are to be cut down. About 70 are to be planted as compensation. We are only drawing up an act and describing what exactly is to be destroyed. The final decision will be made after the environmental impact assessment,” the inspector said.
Environmental activists were also present at the site during the inspection. One of them, Dmytro Ryabchenko, drew attention to the fact that the number of trees to be destroyed is 2 times higher than the compensatory planting. The contractor's representative replied that they were ready to plant as many trees as the city authorities would say.
Local residents commented to MikVisti that there were no public hearings on the development of this land plot, and they had not heard about them. The residents of Mykolaiv reminded that even before the full-scale invasion, they had already tried to build a gas station in this area. Back then, the townspeople managed to stop this project.
Photo: nikvesti.com.
Tetiana, a resident of a house located next to the future development, said that, according to the regulations, there should be a green zone near the enterprise to absorb dust and exhaust gases. Also, the gas station should not be located near a high-rise building. She emphasized that the residents are against the gas station, and they propose to use an abandoned building located nearby to build a supermarket.
“We have already protested this issue once, but the issue has come back again,” said Tetyana.
MikVisti reminded that the conflict over this land plot first arose more than 10 years ago, in 2024. Back then, the Svit Zdorovya company, which is still the developer today, received a land plot for the construction of a sports and recreation complex and began cutting down trees and construction work. However, due to public pressure, local authorities refused to extend the lease of the land plot.
In April 2024, at a meeting of the land commission, city council members again agreed to lease this 7,643 square meter land plot for 5 years to Svit Zdorovya, which then changed its intended purpose.
As EcoPolitic reported last week in its weekly digest, in Kirovohrad region, prosecutors served a notice of suspicion to the director of a municipal enterprise in Kropyvnytskyi, which has a security obligation to preserve the Peremoha Park, a local landscape art monument. He damaged 600 square meters of the park's lawn during the construction of a residential complex. The environmental damage amounted to UAH 1.7 million.
