Activists: The city of Brno is informing citizens affected by the relocation of the train station too little

Brno - Today, an oral hearing began at the building authority of the Brno-střed city district regarding the redevelopment of the Brno Railway Node (ŽUB) as part of the planning proceedings. Access is allowed only for participants designated by law, even though the civic coalition Station in the Center requested that the hearing be public. However, the city hall leadership rejected this. Civic activists organized a protest in front of the city hall, where the hearing is taking place.
    According to the activists, the city has once again shown a lack of willingness to communicate with citizens. "The construction will impact tens of thousands of people, and at the very least, the media should have had the opportunity to participate in the hearing. We also believe it is a mistake that while the city is spending millions on an information campaign for the relocation of the station, it couldn't find a few thousand crowns in the budget to notify all owners of land and properties affected by this construction by letter," said Martin Ander, director of Hnutí Duha and coordinator of the Station in the Center coalition, today to ČTK.
    Given that the redevelopment of the railway node is a public benefit construction, authorities can issue a planning decision even without the consent of the landowners. Therefore, the activists argue that the owners should have been informed that proceedings concerning their property are ongoing and that they have the right to participate.
    City hall spokesman Roman Burián disagrees with the activists' objections, stating that in large constructions, it is common for the building authority to post notices only on official boards and send them to the city halls of all the city districts affected by the construction. "It is then up to those self-governments to reach out to their citizens, whether through websites, bulletin boards, or perhaps through the radio," Burián told ČTK today. The building authority of the Brno-střed city district sent notifications to another 16 city districts.
    According to Ander, such an approach is insufficient. "People don’t have time during the vacation period to check official boards to see if there happens to be a notice about the initiation of proceedings that the city has promised for three quarters of a year," Ander pointed out. Therefore, the Station in the Center coalition sent more than four hundred letters at their own expense to the owners of the land affected by the node’s redevelopment.
    The redevelopment of the ŽUB will have the greatest impact in Brno-Židenice. In addition to the current two tracks used only by freight trains, two more tracks for passenger transport will be added. "The current proposal means that, despite noise reduction measures, the hygienic noise limits will be permanently exceeded, which are up to 60 decibels during the day and 55 decibels at night in the protective zone around the railways. Additionally, the frequency of train passings will incredibly increase, with one train passing every three minutes," added Ander.