The metropolitan plan should be approved by Prague by the end of 2022

Prague - The new Metropolitan Plan should be approved for Prague by the end of 2022. The timetable for the preparation of the plan was approved today by Prague representatives. The Institute of Planning and Development (IPR) will submit a draft of the plan to Prague by the end of this September. The proposal will be discussed with municipal districts and state administration in March 2018. The Metropolitan Plan could come into effect on January 1, 2023. All construction in Prague will be governed by it.

"We present the timetable as realistic, but at the same time very tight. The time that might seem long will be used to address comments, of which we expect thousands,” said the mayor's deputy Petra Kolínská (SZ/Trojkoalice). If Prague does not address the comments, she warned of lawsuits from those who submitted them to the city.

Prague was supposed to have a new plan by 2020, but this deadline will not be met. Therefore, the Chamber of Deputies extended the validity of the current plans until 2022 in an amendment to the building act. The extension is not only due to Prague, as many Czech cities are in the same situation. According to Kolínská, Prague no longer has to address what it would do during the period when it would not have an urban plan.

Discussions are currently taking place between the IPR and the city hall. "Consultations and adjustments to the material are underway so that by the end of September it can be delivered in a form that the procurer can accept and approve. It is not the case that IPR is drawing and writing something without communicating until September,” Kolínská said. An application is also being created to facilitate communication with the office and allow comments to be submitted through it.

Some opposition representatives criticized the timetable. "The timetable is proposed in a way that is not realistic,” said representative Mikuláš Ferjenčík (Pirates). According to him, some steps cannot be completed according to the timetable. At the same time, he wanted it to be finished by September 2022. Representative Marek Doležal (TOP 09) labeled the timetable as a blank check for future governments at the city hall. He subsequently unsuccessfully proposed that the plan be shortened by half a year. "So that the next government has space to do something with this timetable,” he said.

Kolínská rejected the shortening of deadlines, as well as the deadline proposed by Ferjenčík. "It is better for it to be approved after the elections, not before the elections. The final approval is only a yes or no; the most important things happen in the process of addressing comments,” she said. Elections for the city council should take place in the fall of 2022.

The creation of the new plan began in the previous electoral term under Mayor Tomáš Hudeček (then TOP 09). The urban plan determines where construction is permitted and where public areas or greenery will remain. The Metropolitan Plan should also bring height regulation for buildings. Its preparation has been criticized in the past by representatives of some municipalities, experts, and conservationists.