Opponents of the shops and stadium in Hradec have challenged the project in court

Hradec Králové - Opponents of the multibillion-dollar construction of a giant shopping center and football arena in Hradec Králové have challenged the valid zoning decision for the entire project with an administrative lawsuit. They are seeking the annulment of the zoning decision at the Hradec Králové Regional Court. Adam Záruba (Change for Hradec), a project opponent and Hradec Králové councilor from the Czech Union for Nature Conservation Orlice, announced this today. The city is set to build the stadium. The shopping center was originally to be built by the German company ECE, but now the Slovak company HB Reavis is set to join the project with them.
The current project involves the city selling lucrative plots of land next to the municipal Malšovice stadium "under the lollipops" for the shopping center. The money raised will then be invested back into the reconstruction of the stadium by the city hall. If the courts were to halt the shopping project, city management has previously not ruled out that they would build and finance the arena entirely on their own, at a cost of hundreds of millions of crowns. The whole project is expected to cost about 3.75 billion crowns.
Besides the Czech Union for Nature Conservation Orlice, representatives from the association Circle for Civil Society and the association Path to Sustainable Prosperity have also signed the joint lawsuit. In addition to the annulment of the zoning decision, they are asking the court to suspend the validity of the zoning decision until a verdict on the lawsuit is issued.
The main objection from the opponents is the alleged bias of the officials from Hradec Králové city hall who decided on the zoning decision. "The officials are dependent on the city, which is a co-investor in the project. There is a conflict of interest here," said Záruba. According to the opponents, the authorities also failed to address all comments regarding the negative impacts of the construction, particularly concerning air pollution and traffic. Záruba also stated that during the actual process of issuing the zoning decision, the authorities committed several procedural errors, such as the regional office allegedly dealing with some points of the appeal inadequately.
The opponents are opposed to the construction of the stores in the area near the historical center of the city, but not against the stadium itself. "Urbanistically, it does not belong there. An alternative is a stadium in a budget-friendly variant at a level of 300 million crowns," said project critic and Hradec Králové councilor Martin Hanousek (Change for Hradec) to ČTK.
Despite the threat of a court stoppage of the project, the city continues to work on its preparation. Approvals for amendments to contracts, which would include the involvement of HB Reavis, could be approved by the council in March, said Deputy Mayor Jindřich Vedlich (TOP 09) last week. According to him, the city intends to apply for a building permit for the stadium by the end of February. Developers will also apply for a building permit for the stores on their own. The city and ECE obtained the zoning decision for the project together.
The principle of the Malšovice project is that ECE will purchase the land for its shopping center Arkády from the city for 259 million crowns. The city will then build a new stadium itself for about half a billion crowns. ECE has also committed to providing the football club with 176 million crowns over ten years, and will pay about 115 million crowns for infrastructure, transport connections, and the demolition of the stadium. HB Reavis has previously stated that they intend to meet their obligations to the city and the football club.