Approximately 40 municipalities will support the South Moravian Region in the dispute over the zoning plan

Brno - Approximately 40 municipalities are preparing to support the South Moravian Region in its legal dispute against municipalities, associations, and individuals who filed a lawsuit seeking the annulment of the principles of territorial development (PTD). These are the territorial plans that determine the future direction of the region's development and were issued last autumn. According to the Deputy Governor Martin Maleček (Mayors for South Moravia), the voice of the municipalities is important to demonstrate that the view on PTD is not one-sided and that their annulment would harm many municipalities, he told reporters today after a seminar for mayors.

Municipalities that do not wish to annul the PTD include, for example, Kuřim and several other municipalities along road I/43, as well as municipalities along road I/55 led by Ratíškovice and many others. These are generally municipalities that have been waiting for many years for planned highways, roads, or bypasses, and the long-term absence of PTD has continuously postponed construction indefinitely.

In contrast, the lawsuit was filed in mid-August by municipalities that will be affected by the construction of new roads or highways, mainly municipalities along the German variant of D43 and along D52, as well as municipalities that will be impacted by the proposed connection between highways D1 and D52.

Municipalities can apply as intervening parties until August 18; a day earlier, the region must send a statement regarding the lawsuit to the Regional Court in Brno. "We expect that the decision could be made in about six months. The court proceedings will not affect the processes that have begun after approval. However, if the PTD were annulled, it would take about another five years to create new ones," said Maleček.

The region approved the PTD last year in an unfinished form, as it left D43 and some other roads and highways only in territorial reserves, allowing the current political representation to develop a detailed territorial study, which will ultimately determine the routes of the roads. "We are supposed to have it completed by November 2018, and after that, it will be possible to start updating the PTD," stated Maleček.

The plaintiffs base their lawsuit on arguments that address the unresolved exceeding limits of some areas. According to them, the PTD does not allow for realistic development of transport infrastructure and unjustifiably restricts the development of municipalities and individual property rights through extensive territorial reserves.

Against some claims, Robert Skeřil from the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, which has long been concerned with air quality, reacted in an analysis. "The authors of the lawsuit often use outdated data from 2011. The air quality has improved since then; I supplemented the time series up to 2015. There are also significant errors in it (in the lawsuit), the authors often mix pears with apples," said Skeřil. According to him, traffic affects air quality; however, in the southern part of Brno and beyond, there may also be old agricultural machines, problems with dust from fields, and overall wind erosion, with local heating techniques contributing significantly to pollution. "It is necessary to consider the influences comprehensively," Skeřil told reporters today after the seminar for mayors.