Běhounek: We have a promise from the Ministry of Regional Development that spatial planning will remain with the regions

Prague - Regions have the promise from the Minister for Regional Development Klára Dostálová (for ANO) that territorial planning will remain within their jurisdiction in the new construction law. After today's meeting with Dostálová, Jiří Běhounek (for ČSSD), the governor of the Vysočina Region and first vice-chairman of the Czech Association of Regions Council, told ČTK. Dostálová confirmed the information, calling the step a concession to the regions.

"We proposed that it should be entirely under the state building administration, that the state would handle it itself, and we would withdraw the jurisdiction from the regions. Today's meeting was about the fact that in the area of territorial planning, it doesn't make sense for the state to take it all, as the organization of space should particularly be done by self-governing entities," the minister told reporters. Besides Běhounek, the head of the Union of Towns and Municipalities František Lukl also attended the meeting, according to her.

"The minister promised that she would be able to put together a comprehensive document so that territorial planning would remain with the regions, and that personnel issues, digital-technical maps, and so on would also be addressed. Under certain circumstances, we are ready to discuss these proposals, and each region must express its opinion. For my part, I say that in Vysočina, we will discuss this particular shift, the concession from the Ministry of Regional Development," Běhounek told ČTK after the meeting. He reminded that the loss of the ability to influence territorial planning was among the biggest criticisms from the regions regarding the proposed law.

Dostálová already agreed with the Union of Towns and Municipalities in mid-January that officials responsible for building permits at the municipal level would not be transferred to the new state model. Originally, 13,500 officials were to move under the state; now it will be about 7,000. "There is a promise that building offices in smaller municipalities will remain," Běhounek said today.

The proposal addressing most of the comments on the construction law was sent by the Ministry of Regional Development at the end of February. There were more than 5,000 comments, but they contained a large number of duplicates. The Ministry divided them into 26 areas. The department then stated that after receiving feedback from the commenting parties, it would have until the end of March to address them. The original deadline for addressing comments was the end of January. The government postponed it by two months. According to some experts, even this deadline is "tight."

The government expects significant acceleration and simplification of building approvals from the new construction law. According to the World Bank, the Czech Republic ranks 157th out of 190 compared countries in the processing of building permits. The law is supposed to take effect at the beginning of next year. According to Dostálová, the effectiveness will gradually ramp up, with the latest possible deadline being mid-2023.

The legislation has many critics. Among the most common criticisms is that it favors developers and does not protect public interests. According to some opponents, it is even unconstitutional. Dostálová repeatedly emphasizes that she is willing to make compromises in the commenting process, but the objective of the law must not be violated.