People submitted over 5000 comments on the Brno master plan

Brno - People in Brno submitted more than 5000 comments on the proposal for a new urban plan for the city over three months. The comments were collected by the Department of Urban Planning and Development of the municipal office. The comment process ended on the last day of June, the councilors announced today at a meeting with journalists.

The current urban plan has been in effect in Brno with various updates since 1994, and the year 2022 is the latest according to the building law, by which a new one must come into effect. Developers have high hopes for it, as they have been saying for several years that the outdated urban plan is hindering residential construction.

"The department will thoroughly address all comments. We will discuss their possible incorporation with experts, the Institute of Global Climate Change Research, and universities," said the councilor for urban planning and development, Filip Chvátal (KDU-ČSL).

The public hearings on the urban plan had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic to the end of June, thus extending the time for submitting objections and comments on the urban plan by a month.

"The urban plan is the most important task for the coalition; we are still adhering to the schedule we set, even despite a challenging spring when the public hearing date was postponed. Now, we face another significant phase, which is dealing with objections and comments," said Mayor Markéta Vaňková (ODS).

People most often inquired about the protection of greenery, solutions to the climate crisis, or the fate of garden colonies. "We acknowledge the criticism of the new urban plan, but I would like to say that it creates the foundations for a greener city. For example, it newly establishes a percentage representation of greenery in Brno relating to the quality of the environment and the well-being of residents," Chvátal stated.

The Department of Urban Planning will now work with the Office of the Architect of the City of Brno to adjust the urban plan according to the comments from residents, city districts, and other affected institutions. A new discussion will likely take place in the middle of next year.

The urban plan defines development areas for various types of activities, sets the direction for building traffic routes, and other infrastructure. One of the major changes is the end of the floor area ratio index. It had been the core of disputes between citizens and developers, who often sought to place the tallest buildings in the areas. Instead of the index, buildings will be limited by maximum height. According to the Office of the Architect of the City of Brno, the new plan will be more flexible so that changes do not need to be made as often. However, some consider this advantage, according to its creators, to be a drawback, as it would allow constructions that a stricter plan would prohibit.