The construction of sewers along the Varna promenade, which many called a restart of the project “Alley One”, started with a foul. Several trees in the path of the route’s excavation work ended up with their trunks cut off today. The sight, circulated in a flash on social media, sparked a violent backlash of discontent.
The Varna Municipality reacted almost immediately with a statement that they were fining the contractor “because of the condition of the trees on the promenade near the Third Buna”. The highest sanction of BGN 10 000 was imposed under the Ordinance for the Construction, Management, Control and Protection of the Green System.
The local authority did not deny that permission had been granted to the contractor, but according to the sanitary expertise it was for “carrying out basic pruning of the branches of eight trees of the species ‘White Poplar’ and two trees of the species ‘Willow'”. “Today’s on-site inspection revealed that the actions carried out cannot be qualified as basic pruning,” the municipality added.
The news comes against the backdrop of a protest announced on Saturday by the Varna Breathes association in front of Varna City Hall under the slogan “Varna can protect the Sea Garden and its promenade”. One of the main demands of the organisers is that the promenade becomes part of the Sea Garden and that the mayor issues a construction ban on the territory of the park.
The implementation of the project worth BGN 8 million for sewerage and improvement of the promenade started on January 12. In a stretch of one kilometre and 200 metres between Fisherman’s Beach and the Third Buna, a new pavement with recreation areas and 49 poles for alley lighting are also planned. The investor is “Holding Varna” – the company that in 2009 purchased 118 acres of coastal land from the state for the implementation of the project “Alley First”.
Already in early January, the information caused a stormy reaction in social networks. The fears of the residents of Varna were that this was a thawing of the mega project “Alley First”, which envisages the construction of hotels, a spa center, entertainment venues, a yacht club and other attractions between the Sea Garden and the sea. Moreover, in October Holding Varna filed an investment plan with the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water for the construction of a two-storey International Congress Centre in the area below the Meteorological Station. The building, as well as the project for a sewage collector, are part of the investor’s obligations to the state for the implementation of public facilities along the promenade, Holding Varna’s co-executive director Milcho Bliznakov announced before the start.
Then the Municipality of Varna stated that they support any investment related to the engineering infrastructure. Deputy Mayor Dimitar Kirchev pointed out that the local government will have a control function and will be very strict. Kirchev also commented that it is not clear at this stage whether the alley is a street or not because the Master Plan for traffic organization in Varna has not yet been adopted. It has yet to be publicly discussed.
Photos: Varna Municipality Press Centre
