SuperShe, an exclusive women-only island resort in Finland's south-western archipelago, opened for business in Fjärdskär last summer. But now German-American entrepreneur Kristina Roth has petitioned authorities to expand building rights on the island from 340 to 690 square metres.
Roth said she wants to build more cottages in order to house up to 30 people on the island at a time, up from the current 10. The island off the coast of Raasepori caters to "supershes," affluent women looking to network, relax, and congregate at all-inclusive luxury resorts. A one-week stay at Fjärdskär sets visitors back 4,000 euros.
Conservation group Raaseporin Luonto said expanding Roth’s building rights would be unfair to other landowners in the area in terms of equal treatment. SuperShe Island is some three hectares in size and the group wants Roth to adhere to the same zoning rules as other small island owners in the archipelago.
Burden on island
In a letter to the city of Raasepori, the nature conservation group said green lighting Roth’s shoreline construction plans would bring exploitation of the archipelago to a whole new level.
Meanwhile Sven Holmberg, who heads the zoning board for the city of Raasepori, said Roth’s plans are too expansive in terms of the island’s size, emphasising that the potential environmental overload is a real concern.
Raaseporin Luonto said up to 400 people could stay on the island, leaving a significant environmental footprint. The water surrounding Fjärdskär, home of SuperShe, is of poor quality, placing high demands on waste water purification to prevent further pollution as the island is not hooked up to municipal sewage.
The local zoning board in Raasepori said Roth’s shoreline building plans can’t go ahead in their current form as they so greatly differ from acceptable zoning rules in terms of the number of dwellings, their maximum size and placement.
SuperShe v Finnish authorities
This is not the first time Roth has been at loggerheads with Finnish authorities. Roth's SuperShe island project has drawn widespread international attention — and criticism — for catering to elites and even sparked an inquiry from Finland’s Ombudsman for Equality which launched an investigation into whether a women-only business classifies as illegal discrimination. The office later found that the private island venture did not violate gender equality laws.
Last year she told Yle she was scrapping plans to make further investments in Finland.
"My experience as an outsider and investor in this beautiful country led me to reconsider future plans," she said, telling business daily Kauppalehti that Finland was a "negative country that sucks energy and money."
