Work has resumed at the site where trees were felled in Teremky. Police are guarding the park from protesters, according to a post on the activists’ Green Teremky page.
Footage published online shows a police cordon separating machinery from activists. The community considers the work illegal; earlier this month, the Kyiv City State Administration warned that around 10 more trees would still have to be cut down.
After a meeting between the community and representatives of the Kyiv City State Administration, activists said the authorities plan to implement the heating main under the original design, but with the intention of preserving the trees that remained after the first felling.
What Will Be Built in Teremky?
In Holosiyivskyy District, as part of preparations for winter, a new heating main is being built for the Teremky-1 and Teremky-2 residential areas. The Kyiv City State Administration explained that the work requires the removal of some trees, but after construction is completed the area will be “fully restored, improved and landscaped, and new trees and other greenery will be planted”. They planned to fell 662 trees, including some more than a hundred years old. Only 56 can be transplanted.
The new heating network will create a back-up heat-supply scheme in the event that CHP Plant No. 5 is shut down.
“The heating network construction project provides for the full implementation of environmental protection measures. After construction is completed, the park area will be recultivated, landscaping will be restored, and new trees, shrubs and other greenery will be planted. In addition, in accordance with the law, for the removed greenery the client will pay compensation, the proceeds of which will be directed towards the creation and development of new green zones in the capital. Such a mechanism for compensating for impacts on the urban environment is provided for by current legislation,” the Kyiv City State Administration said, adding that the project is being implemented to ensure reliable heat supply and preserve the city’s green assets.
Some Kyiv residents opposed the decision and staged a protest. They stressed that under the 2023 plan the heating main was to be laid not through the park, but beneath Teremkivska Street.
On 11 September the Kyiv City State Administration said the network project had been changed and the number of trees to be destroyed reduced. Under the new scheme, around 160 trees are to remain.
“Instead, around a dozen plantings will be removed, and some others will only be crown-pruned. This was discussed during the final meeting with local civic activists,” the administration said.
Since then, there have been no new posts on the Green Teremky page about the resumption of tree felling until today.