Ledra-Onassagorou construction sparks shopkeeper backlash over timelines and disruption

Local electricityNicosiaTop News Ledra-Onassagorou construction sparks shopkeeper backlash over timelines and disruption 20260713 101224 1536x691 Relevant News Ledra-Onassagorou construction sparks shopkeeper backlash over timelines and disruption 14 July 2026 Police make eight arrests in overnight sweep, find 119 drivers to be speeding 14 July 2026 Stagnant water in Larnaca leads to mosquito and smell complaints 14 July 2026 Vassos Vassiliou 14 July 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Plans to redevelop the Ledra and Onassagorou pedestrian streets in Nicosia have opened a new round of disputes, centred on the impact shopkeepers say the works will have on their businesses. Most consider the upgrade of the historic commercial centre necessary, but the reactions echo those seen when the pedestrianisation of Ledra and Onassagorou was decided under the late mayor Lellos Demetriades. A shopkeeper’s doubts Philenews toured the pedestrian streets and asked shopkeepers why they object to a project that will spend, on average, between 30,000 and 40,000 euros beautifying the facades of 140 shops. Philenews also asked why shopkeepers would object to the replacement of telephone, water supply, sewage and electrical services as part of the upgrade, given that the electrical installation in particular could at some point collapse, with consequences for the shopkeepers themselves. The Municipality has assured that the works will be organised so that the redevelopment is carried out in sections, limiting both the completion time and the impact for each part, with the whole project expected to last four to five months. Sofronis Agrotis, a long-standing shopkeeper in the area, told philenews: “Show me one project completed on schedule.” Agrotis said that if he were guaranteed the works would be finished in four to five months, he would close his shop and return once they were complete, a view he said other colleagues shared. He said he believed the works would in fact take around two years, and raised concerns over coordination between the services involved, including the Municipality, the DLGO, the EAC and CYTA. He said experience showed each worked at its own pace, with consequences for the shopkeepers and residents affected. Nicosia Mayor Charalambos Prountzos told philenews that coordination was also a major concern for him, and that every possible effort would be made in that direction. Catering businesses hit hardest Shopkeepers in the food and catering sector are expected to be affected the most, and are reacting most strongly. Once excavation work begins, the outdoor space currently used for tables and chairs will either disappear or be reduced to a degree that would make running a restaurant or café unprofitable. The Mayor said he understood this category of business would be affected, which is why extending table placement to nearby side streets, where feasible, is under discussion. A further concern raised was how appealing it would be for people to sit down on the pedestrian streets to eat or drink coffee amid the noise of jackhammers and dust. Prountzos added that with everyone’s cooperation, the project could be completed within reasonable timelines and achieve results similar to those on other upgraded streets, which he said had mainly benefited shopkeepers and residents. Consultation and timelines He said all concerns raised by those affected would be discussed, adding this was not being done because of pressure but because it had been the plan from the outset, and that useful suggestions would be adopted once the consultation stage was reached. Responding to the observation that shopkeepers feel decisions are being made without their input, the Mayor said that, if things go as planned, the third phase of the project, involving excavations, would begin in the first half of 2027, leaving ample time for consultation. Asked how urgent the project’s implementation was, he said that if all the shops on Onassagorou Street were rented out, it could cause a blackout in the electrical installations, and that the Mayor and municipal council would then face demands to explain their action or inaction. He added that it was not only the area’s electrical installation that needed replacing, but other services too. Should excavation go ahead, the first since 1992, many believe it would amount to a waste of public money not to also replace the water supply, CYTA and sewage pipes at the same time, since the same disruption and impact on shopkeepers, residents and visitors would otherwise be repeated at a later stage. A councillor’s view A municipal councillor who contacted philenews said shopkeepers were right to worry about the potential side effects, particularly around the project’s implementation timelines. He said they were also right to complain that peripheral shopping centres affect their trade. He said the time had come to upgrade the area, something that had been demanded for years, and expressed hope that shopkeepers would not themselves become an obstacle to the effort now under way. He noted that the walled city of Nicosia has a charm that the various shopping centres outside the centre lack, though he said those centres cannot compete with a place whose infrastructure and services date back to the last century. From philenews’s tour, what emerged was not a rejection of the plans themselves, but an absence of trust as to whether they will be carried out without ruining the shopkeepers in the process. This will also depend on whether the Municipality can convince those objecting that the project is more than necessary. 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