The South Moravian Region has addressed the comments on the territorial plan

Brno - The South Moravian Region is preparing to send within the next days to the authorities of state administration the resolution of comments and objections it received regarding the proposal for the principles of territorial development (ZÚR). They will have 30 days to assess the resolution of comments, and only after that can the regional land use plan be finalized, stated the regional spokesperson Eliška Windová to ČTK. The region repeatedly claims that it will complete the principles by the regional elections, which are scheduled for October 7 and 8. However, the document has many critics.

Of the 1255 comments, many overlapped in content. “In the end, there are 150. Most relate to road traffic. There was disagreement with the concept of road infrastructure development as well as with territorial reserves for transport in connection with the territorial study for Brno,” said Windová. The future highways or four-lane roads, namely R43 and D52 and the bypass around Znojmo, received the most comments. There was also significant disagreement regarding the territorial reserve for the construction of the Čučice dam on the Oslava River.

The planned study for assessing the routing of long-distance transport in Brno and its surroundings stirs the most emotions among critics. The region has left key transport routes only in territorial reserves, meaning it did not need to assess environmental impacts. This concerns the entire R43 road from the intersection with the D1 highway to Lysice and the southwestern tangent, which has long been rejected by the affected municipalities.

The final resolution regarding the routing of transport routes is postponed for at least three years, despite the fact that the region has dozens of studies available. It had 16 years to prepare since its establishment. Brno, several city districts, and many other municipalities oppose this process. They claim that the region is delaying solutions to noise and pollution problems. “If the ZÚR addresses plans of significant regional and national importance over a large area primarily in territorial reserves and various options, it has not fulfilled the basic aims and tasks of spatial planning. Brno demands that the ZÚR proposal be revised and that the impact assessment of the proposal on the sustainable development of the area be conducted so that for key traffic infrastructure projects in the central area of the region, it does not contain territorial reserves but proposed corridors,” stated Brno in the submitted objections.

The framework content of the study, which will serve as a basis for a more detailed assignment, will already be included in the upcoming principles of territorial development. “We expect that the final form of the assignment will be managed by the region by the time of its publication. Subsequently, it will select a designer who will process the study. The development is estimated to take 12 to 15 months,” Windová disclosed. The update of the land use plan is to be discussed within three years, as requested by the Ministry of the Environment.

Regional officials will also negotiate with representatives of the ministry, which warned the region in June that in creating the document, it proceeded in certain respects contrary to the law. “A way to take our June position into account will be agreed upon,” stated the ministry spokesperson Jana Taušová to ČTK.

However, whether the resulting document will be valid for more than a few months will likely be decided again by the court. Critics of the regional approach have already announced that they will challenge the document in court, just like they did four years ago.