New decision for the transfer of the train station in Brno will take 1.5 years

Brno - The acquisition of a new zoning decision for the redevelopment of the Brno railway hub, which was annulled by the Brno Regional Court in December, will take at least 1.5 years. Martin Ander, the deputy chairman of the Green Party and deputy mayor of Brno, told reporters today. The Greens will demand that the new decision includes the maintenance of operations at the existing station in the city center.
    According to the court, the investor will first need to obtain a number of exceptions for interventions in protected nature areas. Only then can officials revisit the objections of the project's opponents, which led to the court's annulment of the zoning decision.
    According to Ander, this opens up the chance for a redesign of the project, expanding it to include a so-called rapid transit line that could connect previously irreconcilable projects - the relocation of the station and its reconstruction in the center. The new train station will be built about a kilometer south of the current one, but it will be connected to the existing station by the rapid transit line. Regional train connections should continue to stop in the city center, five minutes' walk from the central Freedom Square. A study for the rapid transit line, ordered by the city last year, will begin this Thursday and is expected to be completed by mid-year.
    "The cancellation of operations at the existing station, prepared by the previous city leadership, was a mistake. It would complicate and prolong daily travel for tens of thousands of people. Additionally, the cancellation of the station would cost the city treasury 150 million per year more, as it would have to provide transport for passengers from the relocated station," said Ander.
    Appeals against the zoning decision were filed by participants in the proceedings who were dissatisfied with how the officials of the Brno-střed building authority handled their objections to the construction. However, they were not successful with the appellate body, which was the Brno Magistrate. Only the regional court sided with them, which annulled not only the magistrate's decision but the entire zoning decision.
    According to the court, the procedural rights of the participants in the zoning proceedings were seriously violated, as officials either dealt with their objections superficially or simply copied the negative statements from the investor or designer. In several cases, the authorities did not justify their decisions at all, making them unreviewable and requiring a repetition of the process.
    "Before the resumption of the process for obtaining the zoning decision, an administrative procedure for the issuance of so-called exceptions for interventions in the habitats of protected plants and animals must take place. We do not yet know how many such areas there are and how difficult it will be to obtain the exceptions," said Ander.
     It is not possible to appeal against the Regional Court's ruling, only an extraordinary remedy, known as a cassation complaint, can be used. However, this does not have a suspensive effect. According to Ander, it is not yet possible to predict whether the magistrate will file a cassation complaint, as they have a 20-day deadline to decide. After studying the approximately sixty-page ruling of the court, I do not see too many grounds for filing a complaint, Ander added.
    The reconstruction of the Brno railway, of which the relocation of the station is a part, is one of the most discussed construction projects in Brno in the last decade. The investment is expected to cost 20 billion crowns. It should be realized with the support of European funds. Last year, the construction of the sidings began, which would start regardless of the station's location. The investor was supposed to apply for the first building permit next spring.