Activists sue the Brno magistrate over the train station petition

Brno - Activists from the civic alliance Referendum 2014 have submitted a lawsuit to the Regional Court in Brno against the Brno City Hall for refusing their proposal to declare a referendum on the location of the new Brno railway station. They disagree with officials' claims that nearly 8,000 signatures on the petition are invalid, stated Miroslav Patrik from the preparatory committee for the referendum in a press release. The city hall stands firmly by its claim, said secretary Pavel Loutocký to ČTK.
    To declare a referendum in Brno, 18,508 signatures are needed, but officials have only recognized 13,257. Some individuals signed twice, some were not 18 years old, and some did not have permanent residence in Brno. "Our verification was precisely according to the law. On Monday, we met with the referendum supporters and agreed that they would receive detailed information on all the erroneous signatures. According to my information, they did not collect these documents, but everything is thoroughly recorded," said city hall secretary Pavel Loutocký.
    The activists now have a deadline to submit the missing signatures by September 1. They also need to add to the referendum proposal the estimated costs for modernizing the station in the center. This is the second point they challenged in the lawsuit. "This point may be contentious unlike the signatures," admits Loutocký.
    The alliance is striving for the referendum to take place on the same date as the municipal elections, namely on October 10 and 11, to ensure sufficient voter turnout. For the result of the referendum to be binding, at least 35% of voters must participate. Although ten years ago, most people expressed opposition to relocating the station, the turnout was low.
    However, it is not clear what exactly the alliance is pursuing. At a press conference in May, they rejected both compared variants, namely the station under Petrov and the station near Zvonařka. Now, however, some representatives claim that the station under Petrov is the variant they support for a station in the center. At the same time, the alliance is seeking to have the modernization of the railway node redesigned completely from the beginning. It is unclear how much delay this would entail. The first question of the referendum asks about the location, while the second one asks whether citizens agree to the project being carried out through a series of open design competitions.
    In Brno, there is also a group called Station in the Center, which aims to maintain the station in its current location. It is backed by Matěj Hollan from Žít Brno and Svatopluk Bartík. They reject the politicization of the issue and are waiting for the results of a comparative study that answers questions about the advantages and disadvantages of both locations. "I am glad that we have managed to push the modernization project this far," Hollan said earlier.