An attempt to block the construction of an asphalt plant in the Nicosia district village of Mitsero was rejected by the administrative appeals court on Friday, with the court allowing the plant’s construction to go ahead pending an appeal against the planning permission filed at the court of appeal.

The case had been filed by the village councils of Mitsero and seven other nearby villages – Agrokipia, Ayios Ioannis, Kato Moni, Arediou, Meniko, Malounta and Orounta – with the aim of preventing the plant’s construction.

Planning permission for the plant had been granted with the hope that it would replace the asphalt plant in Dali, where residents have long-held complaints regarding the plant, given that it is located near the town’s schools, and due to the “unbearable” smell of the fumes.

The eight villages’ councils had argued that the construction of a new plant in Mitsero could cause irreparable damage to the environment and to public health in the area, but the court of appeal found that this had not been adequately proven.

As such, construction of the new plant can now go ahead, pending a final hearing at the court of appeal, where it will be definitively decided whether the plant can be constructed.