The processor of the regional development plan will be selected by South Moravia in November

Brno - The regional office will select the processor of the principles of territorial development (ZUR) for South Moravia in November. The principles were canceled last summer by the Supreme Administrative Court, and since then, constructions of supramunicipal significance cannot be established in the South Moravian Region. The region has postponed the deadline for the selection procedure for the processor; originally, firms were to apply by today, but now they have until November 7. The office changed the tender conditions, canceling the mandatory timeframe for preparation, which was 180 days. Some firms were worried they would not meet the deadline, said Antonín Tesařík, councilor responsible for spatial planning. The contract for processing will cost approximately 5.5 million crowns. The complete principles should be ready by the end of 2015.
    "Firms were afraid they would not manage to prepare the principles within the 180-day timeframe. It pays off to extend the deadline at the cost of having to address a number of objections later," Tesařík told ČTK. The processing time is now one of three criteria by which the region will select the processing firm. The other criteria are price and the methodology of processing. "Everything is being done with the aim of achieving maximum quality of the territorial development principles," Tesařík added.
    The region had the principles since September 2011, but they were canceled in the summer of 2012. According to the judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court, the office did not sufficiently assess the impact of constructions on the environment and the health of residents when creating the previous principles. The region appealed the judgment to the Constitutional Court. However, the office is simultaneously working on new principles of territorial development to minimize the duration of time when no principles are valid in the region.
    The new processor will have about 280 documents at their disposal to develop the principles. One of them is the assignment of the principles of territorial development, a document that was approved by the regional representatives in February. The region also prepared an update of the territorial analytical documents. "Things in the area are constantly changing and evolving. This update takes those changes into account," explained Tesařík. The principles will be processed in four phases.
    Regional representatives had to agree on some chapters in the principles with the mayors of the affected municipalities. Objections were raised by 52 municipalities, most often those located near the proposed road routes and other major constructions. The region is also collaborating with the city of Brno on the new principles, which is also working on its own spatial planning. The absence of principles for territorial development is also concerning politicians; the completion of these principles and subsequently the building of missing infrastructure is included in the election programs of most parties.