People in the referendum rejected the change of the land use plan in Březová-Olešek

Březová-Oleško (near Prague) - Residents of the municipality of Březová-Oleško near Prague voted in a referendum to reject further expansion of buildable areas in the zoning plan. The voting, which took place concurrently with the first round of presidential elections, saw a turnout of 61.3 percent of the total 706 eligible voters. Approximately ten percent more people came to vote for the president. This was stated today by Mayor Martin Bernard after the votes were counted.
     58.1 percent of participants disagreed with further expansion of the municipality with 900 residents, while 35.6 percent were in favor, the mayor added. "This doesn't mean much to us; it just means that no additional land for construction will be included. We still have plenty of undeveloped land from the previous zoning plan," he said.
     Municipalities around Prague are among the lucrative development areas, and their zoning plans are often a target of disputes. A change in the zoning plan has been under discussion since last year in Hostivice, for example. A large-scale housing and golf course development is planned there by PPF Real Estate, which is part of the business empire of the richest Czech, Petr Kellner.
     Across the country, five municipalities and towns held a referendum together with the historically first direct presidential election. Besides Březová-Oleško, these are Plzeň, Písek, Kobeřice in Opava, and Bukov in Žďár.