Public survey for DUP on Vodno: haciendas and forest cutting

From 13 August to 14 September a public survey will be held for the Draft Detailed Urban Plan (DUP) for Urban Quarter J 05 – Barutana in the area of Mount Vodno, the Municipality of Centar announced. The plan envisages cutting part of Vodno forest to erect a group of larger buildings, described in the documentation as haciendas.

What the plan foresees

The draft foresees around twenty new buildings on a steep area, with a large building footprint. The total area of the planning scope amounts to 6.89 hectares. According to the document, the gross building area would reach 29,000 square meters, compared to 6,500 square meters envisaged by the General Urban Plan (GUP) and the already built-up area of about 16,000 square meters.

The Municipality of Centar informs that citizens can submit their comments on survey forms in writing, every working day from 8:00 to 16:00 in the premises of Primary School "Kocho Racin", Salvador Allende Street No. 2, where the draft plan will be displayed in paper form. The survey forms will also be available electronically via the Municipality of Centar website and via the e-urbanism information system.

The public presentation of the Draft DUP is scheduled for 3 September 2026 at 12:00, in the meeting hall (building 6) of the Municipality of Centar.

The draft plan was adopted at the session of the Council of the Municipality of Centar on 14 July 2026. Councillors from VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM voted for it jointly; councillors from "Shansa za Centar", Levica, ZNAM and one councillor each from SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE voted against. The DUP was prepared at the request of the company for construction, transport and trade "Lutariko".

Reactions and warnings

The councillor and architect Biljana Filipovska-Todorchevska from "Shansa za Centar" sharply criticized the plan at the session: "This area is the forest that our fellow citizens planted after the Second World War to protect Vodno from soil erosion. We all know what it means if erosion and landslides begin to occur. We are destroying 9,000 square meters of forest and greenery to build 13 buildings so some investor can build. Now they are haciendas with a building area of 700 to 1,000 square meters, and then they will become apartment blocks. Are we going to put the whole city at risk for a few powerful people? Also, to reach these buildings streets must be cut through, and that area is quite steep and the Municipality must bring infrastructure. All of that will cost much more than the money it will get from utilities. The plan, this one proposed now and the previous ones, are contrary to the General Urban Plan (GUP) because they exceed the parameters. The GUP envisages a gross building area of 6,500 square meters, and on this part the built-up area is already 16,000 square meters. Now the plan foresees 29,000 square meters of gross building area. By adopting a plan for 100 residents we are endangering all citizens of Skopje. Who are you working for, who elected you, for these hundred powerful people or for all residents of Centar? I ask you to vote with your own head and not allow this plan to pass," she said.

Parliamentary and party reactions also came from the leader of VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski, who described the claim that VMRO-DPMNE councillors supported the plan as a "NOTORIOUS LIE", even though it was VMRO-DPMNE together with SDSM who voted for the DUP on 14 July 2026.

Photo: SDK.MK