The court must reconsider the participation of Děti Země in the proceedings concerning Aupark

Brno - The Regional Court in Brno must reconsider whether the association Children of the Earth will be a participant in the land-use proceedings for the construction of the Multipurpose Center Aupark in Brno. The office of the Brno-Central district originally decided that the association is not a participant, thus denying it procedural status that would give the environmentalists' remarks greater weight. The Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) this week upheld the appeal of Children of the Earth, as reported by ČTK from the official bulletin.

Last year, the Regional Court concluded that Aupark is to be built in a fully urbanized area, which has little ecological significance. The court stated that the impact of the construction on the landscape can be considered negligible or nonexistent, and therefore there is no reason for the participation of environmental protectors in the land-use proceedings.

The NSS described the verdict as unreviewable, meaning that it is not sufficiently clear what the regional court based its conclusions on. This includes the assertion that the impact of the construction on the landscape will be negligible. "What this negligibility (or even 'zero impact') is based on, however, does not follow from the regional court's judgment," stated the NSS decision. The Regional Court must reconsider the lawsuit.

"The dispute over our participation in the land-use proceedings for this monstrous building has been ongoing since 2013, when the construction office excluded us from the proceedings. However, we have asserted from the beginning that we are participants because there will be an intrusion into the landscape, air pollution will increase, and the intensity of noise from road traffic will rise," said Miroslav Patrik, chairman of Children of the Earth, to ČTK. According to him, the authorities and the regional court have not taken their arguments seriously so far.

The investor wanted to build Aupark on a parking lot near the bus station, in close proximity to another large shopping center, Vaňkovka. Some time ago, the construction received a land-use decision from the Brno-Central district's construction office, but this February the city council overturned the decision. The construction office must review the project again.

The plan for Aupark emerged approximately eight years ago. Meanwhile, civic associations have opposed the construction, and the city of Brno has also submitted numerous comments, as the project has been controversial. It is also linked to the case of architects Jaroslav Dokoupil and Radoslav Kobza. They received a fine of 50,000 crowns from the Czech Chamber of Architects and a three-year ban on applying for public contracts because they designed Aupark and subsequently created a study examining the impact of the construction on the surroundings for the city. According to the chamber, this was a clear conflict of interest.