The new South Moravian regional plan does not address problems, municipalities are angry

Brno - The South Moravian Region has not made any progress in developing new land use principles (ZÚR) regarding key transport constructions around Brno. They have been pushed back to 2017 and later, claim the mayors of municipalities who managed to abolish the then land use plan in court three years ago. Regional councilor Antonín Tesařík (KDU-ČSL) defends the approach by stating that large road and highway constructions in Brno and its immediate vicinity cannot be planned due to the absence of a new Brno land use plan, he told ČTK.
    The draft ZÚR has been available in electronic form on the region's website since Monday. The region is only counting on land reserves for potential routing of new highways and roads at problematic locations in Brno and the surrounding area, so as not to have to prepare studies for assessing environmental impacts. "The region found a legal loophole to push through the ZÚR. However, the problems are not being solved and are just being postponed. They are aware of the environmental overload, which is why they have postponed the assessment for later," said the mayor of Ostopovice, Jan Symon, to ČTK.
    Tesařík stated that studies determining the route of the R43 highway from the north to the D1 highway, the possible link between D1 and R52, and other roads will begin only after ZÚR is approved. The current regional coalition wants to approve them before the autumn regional elections in 2016. "We can only address these transport constructions once Brno resolves how to handle the traffic coming to it from the surrounding areas. And since it does not have a land use plan, having canceled the update, we must wait to see how they will want to deal with it," Tesařík said. The deputy mayor, Martin Ander (SZ), countered that the regional land documentation is superior to the city's land use plan, and thus the city is waiting to see what the region will propose. "I agree with the municipalities' opinion. The primary responsibility lies with the region, and communication of extra-local significance cannot be drawn into land use plans without connection to the region. Otherwise, anyone could draw whatever they want," Ander said.
    In Modřice, which also advocated for the cancellation of previous ZÚR, they have been preparing a land use plan for six years and want to approve it as soon as possible. "We will include the land reserves that the region plans, so that we do not end up in a legal dispute with them," said mayor Josef Šiška to ČTK. Modřice is strongly opposed to one of the variants of the so-called southwest tangent, which aims to connect the D1 highway with the R52. "Already now, we are exceeding emission limits; we cannot place additional constructions that pollute the environment here," Šiška said.
    Ostopovice also uses the same argument against the tangent, which would be surrounded by highways on three sides. "Moreover, the land reserves block the development of the municipality. The region could have conducted studies and has done nothing in three years. When they conduct the study, I expect it will merely be an update of the ZÚR and they will not have to do a comprehensive assessment of environmental impacts. They are pushing through the ZÚR using a salami method," Symon said.
    While the R43 from Kuřimi to D1 and the southwest or southeast tangents are only in land reserves, the southern tangent, which will connect the R52 and D2 south of Modřice, is already in the proposal. If the region approves the ZÚR, it will be certain that it will run in the designated corridor. "We have no problem with this intention. However, we are against the construction of additional roads. It would be better to increase the capacity of the existing ones," Šiška said.
    Municipalities, organizations, or citizens can express their opinions on the draft ZÚR until May 7, after which the region must address them all.