Prague and other cities will present amendments to the new building law

Prague – The leadership of Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň, and Liberec agreed on the demand for four amendments to the new construction law that is being discussed by the Chamber of Deputies. Today, the councilors of the capital city approved the demands in the form of prepared amendment proposals and the city plans to submit them to the Minister for Regional Development Klára Dostálová (for ANO) and all parliamentary clubs. The demands include a complete transfer of the preparation of zoning plans under local governments, preservation of Prague’s construction regulations, the possibility of establishing their own regulations for other large cities, completing already developed zoning and regulatory plans without legally mandated changes, and greater powers for municipalities in the construction permitting process.

The first deputy mayor of Prague for spatial development, Petr Hlaváček (for TOP 09), stated that if the demands are not accepted, the current problems causing disproportionately long construction permit processes would only shift from building authorities to the area of spatial planning. "Specifically, it will not be possible to implement most of the planned projects in Prague, the Metropolitan Plan will not be completed, and the development of Prague and other large Czech cities will be blocked," he said.

Prague councilor for legislation Hana Marvanová (for STAN) added that besides other large cities and the Union of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic, the leadership of Prague consulted the comments with experts on construction legislation, administrative legislation, and judiciary, as well as representatives from the relevant ministries. "We have prepared our theses in the form of amendment proposals, for which we are seeking support from MPs across the political spectrum," the councilor stated.

The Chamber of Deputies has been discussing the draft law since the beginning of March. Instead of the original proposal from the Ministry for Regional Development, MPs voted for a comprehensive amendment proposal from the House Economic Committee as the basis for further discussion, which includes transferring all building authorities under state control. Currently, they fall under municipal offices, although they exercise so-called delegated powers of state administration and local politicians are not allowed to intervene in their decisions. MPs can submit amendment proposals to the current draft until the end of March.

The construction law has been in preparation for several years and has sparked disputes. The Ministry for Regional Development hopes for faster permit issuance for large constructions. There are reservations from the Ministry of Culture, local governments, and civic and ecological associations.