Brno city councilors did not approve contracts for Amazon's arrival

Brno - Brno city councilors today again did not approve contracts with developer CTP Invest and the Directorate of Roads and Highways (ŘSD), which would have allowed the construction of a logistics center for the American e-commerce company Amazon in Brno. According to Mayor Roman Onderka (CSSD), this is the definitive end of the project. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka described the voting result as a missed opportunity for a region suffering from unemployment.
    "I think this is a missed opportunity for Brno. Not only for Brno, but also for South Moravia, because there are currently several tens of thousands of people unemployed in the South Moravian Region," said Sobotka. According to him, the government cannot replace the decision of the local administration. "This is a matter that is fully within the competence of the city of Brno, the councilors of the city of Brno decide, and in my opinion, they made a mistake today," stated the prime minister.
    The councilors were not satisfied even with CTP's commitment to buy land for the construction of the exit from the D1 highway, to ease traffic in adjacent city parts. They also disliked that CTP had already been working on city-owned land. They also pointed out that the current zoning plan does not allow the construction of logistics centers on this land. CTP representatives left the meeting after it and did not comment on the outcome.
    25 councilors out of 55 expressed support for Amazon's arrival, three green councilors were against it. The others abstained, did not vote, or did not attend the meeting. Onderka sees no possibility to continue with the project. "Amazon clearly said it would wait until March for a clear signal. If not, which happened, it will look for another location for the warehouse. I am disappointed," said Onderka. Earlier, there were talks about Austria, Slovakia, or possibly Ostrava. In this context, the mayor doubted that a highway exit could be constructed in the foreseeable future.
    CTP was harmed in today's meeting by starting work on city land without the right to do so. "There is no contract allowing CTP to handle the city land. Yet they have already cleared the topsoil and brought in rubble. This is in violation of the building law," declared councilor Martin Ander (SZ). However, CTP claimed it was working only on land it had purchased from the Ministry of Defense last year. However, from the photographs available to the Greens, it is evident that CTP also worked on city-owned land, which was also admitted by coalition councilor Oliver Pospisil (CSSD). The councilors also approved a resolution from the councilors ordering officials to verify activities on city-owned land.
    The issue of the exit from the D1 highway, which had been a key dispute between Amazon supporters and opponents, was also only now beginning to be addressed. The city had managed to involve CTP in the planned construction in the last month. The developer would have committed to acquiring at least 70 percent of the land. The city would receive 200 million crowns for the land for Amazon and an additional 100 million crowns for purchasing this land for the exit, for adjusting intersections in the area, for the turnaround of city buses, and for the construction of the connection to the highway exit.
    Despite CTP's promises, Hana Kašpaříková, a representative of the civic association Clean Tuřany, left today's council meeting satisfied. "The exit would help Slatina, but not Černovice and Tuřany, which need a bypass. We want to keep an eye on who comes to the area in the future and how the zoning plan will change," she said.
    Amazon promised more than 1,500 jobs and an investment of around 2.7 billion crowns. The warehouse was to have 95,000 square meters. Mayor Onderka also addressed the origin of the employees. The ODS demanded that people from Brno or South Moravia be given priority for jobs. "I spoke with the Ministry of Labor and the Labor Office, which is ready to cooperate with Amazon on retraining. Up to 30,000 crowns can be allocated for one job," Onderka said earlier.
    After learning about the result of today's voting in Brno, Sobotka requested Minister of Industry Jan Mládek, under whom the CzechInvest agency falls, to offer Amazon alternative industrial zones if the company wanted to continue the investment in the Czech Republic. "Given that the second investment Amazon is considering in Dobrovíz is developing very well so far, the government will offer Amazon industrial zones that are currently prepared," added Sobotka.