The Geologist – Your Best Friend in Cyprus

In April 2007 we re-published a letter from Alan Delaney that had appeared in the Cyprus Press.  Alan’s letter is here, http://www.girltalk.pcs-net.com/b2/consult-official-geological-survey-before-you-purchase/

 

Great advice.  But since then it has been pointed out to The Cyprus Informer that unless you are a professional surveyor you could have some difficulty in pinpointing exactly where a particular plot actually was very accurately on the official GSD Map (Geological Survey Department of Cyprus – The Government).

So we took a real example. We bought a copy of the map covering a fairly large area of the Paphos Region; the Geological Map of the “Ayia Varvara – Pentalia Area” (CYP 6.00).  We took a Topographical Map issued by the Lands Office and found it impossible to get a really accurate fix on a plot and reliably identify the geology. This is pretty important where the geological structures vary over realtively quite small distances of a few hundred metres.

You could easily miss a real bargain which was on good land or even drop yourself into the “proverbial” because you had misinterpreted the GSD Map and inadvertantly defamed a property developer.

In our article on Earthquakes in Cyprus ( http://www.girltalk.pcs-net.com/b2/earthquakes-cyprus/) we advised that Cyprus lies in the second most earthquake stricken zone on earth. But luckily for Cyprus it is located in a less active sector of this zone, and it experiences earthquakes less frequently and of a lower magnitude than that of Greece and Turkey.

But it would surely be inappropriate for anyone to generally and universally write off some village areas in the Paphos Region?   Yes.

As we said earlier we have recently been involved in a real instance near the village of Choletria where the area of the Old Choletria suffered from an major earthquake in 1953. But the Government moved the villagers to a safer geological area on Mamonia mélange but away from the fault lines.  The new village of Choletria has grown steadily over the last 30 years with new houses being built safely for expanding families and others settling there from other countries. The Christofi Family are, for example, building and selling from the Elpida Golf Resort in Choletria. Contact our Editor for a site reference. 

In the particular instance the plot owner visited the GSD in Nicosia (1, Lefkonos Street, 1415 Nicosia, Cyprus) who quickly ascertained with the Plot Number and Topgraphical Sheet References where the plot was on the GSD Geological Map.  It looked like it could be on Mamonia but actually it was on a nearby geological structure called the Kathikas Formation.

The GSD said that this is also a “mélange” in this case with rock fragments dispersed in a reddish, clayey, silty matrix. The clayey content in the subsoil can cause swelling and shrinkage under changes of the natural moisture content of the soil, so civil engineering measures must be taken in order to maintain more of less constant moisture of the soil at the level of the foundations.  THe GSD said that a continuous/massive (raft foundation) can be designed by a civil engineer after a geotechnical/geological investigation has been carried out by a geologist, so that all necessary data can be provided to the civil engineer for the design of safe foundations.

We had previously seen some articles where mélange has been casually written off as being unsuitable for construction.  On the contrary said the GSD many houses have been already constructed in this soil in Pafos area.

So the buyer should still beware but with professional advice, easily and inexpensively obtained there are some wonderful plots to be safely purchased in these areas where others have written them off – even many of the locals have because of lack of knowlege of geology and civil engineering.

The GSD has now supplied a range of information, including geological hazard maps, to the local Planning Departments in Cyprus.  So if you are thinking about buying land, do make an appointment at the local Planning Authority to get information of the geology of the site, which will take into account earthquake activity and the prescence of fault lines and other undesirable rock and soil formations that are unsuitable for building.

Planning Procedures have changed

The GSD has told the Planning Departments that the maps must be referred to for all plans submitted for construction. If a plot of land is identified from the hazard maps then a private geo-technical survey must be undertaken by the developer, before the plans are considered further. The intention is also that the GSD evaluate the private report.  

This is a welcome change which is there to ensure that properties are not built on unsuitable land in the future. Indeed there is now a prohibition to building on unsuitable land in the planning process.

Don’t buy land in Cyprus without consulting a Geologist.  But make the Geologist Your Best Friend and don’t miss a bargain either !!

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