The councilors of Brno approved 10 million for the architect's office

Brno - Brno city councilors today approved a ten-million operational contribution for the newly established Office of the City Architect of Brno. According to Deputy Mayor Martin Ander (Green Party), about half of the funds will cover salaries for the approximately 12 to 15 employees the office will have. The other half will be used for office equipment and similar expenses. The decision to establish the new contribution organization was made by the councilors at the end of last year. The city is now looking for a director for the organization, whose first task will be to create a budget. The office will be responsible for urban development and spatial planning.

The opposition ODS proposed withdrawing the item because, according to the party, it is unclear what the funds will be used for. ODS suggested that the allocation of the contribution be discussed only after the city hires a director. However, the allocation of the contribution ultimately passed, with 29 councilors voting in favor out of a total of 55.

According to Ander, the ten million allocated is merely a rough estimate of the funds needed to cover employee salaries and equipment. "It's possible that the entire amount won't even be spent this year. Once we appoint a director, they will create a budget and gradually hire employees. It cannot be said whether the organization will even begin to fully operate in the first half of this year," he said.

Interested candidates for the director position can submit their applications until March 4. Ander stated that by the end of March, the city wants to have clarity on the winner, whom they plan to appoint in April.

A suitable candidate will be selected by a professional committee, which, according to Ander, will also include experts from abroad. "It will include the director of the planning department of Vienna, Thomas Madreiter, the head of Prague’s Institute of Planning and Development, Petr Hlaváček, or independent urbanism and architecture expert Adam Gebrian, who received the prestigious Architect of the Year award last year," listed the deputy mayor. The committee will recommend a candidate to the city council, which will make the final decision.

After the selection of the new director, there will be recruitment processes for additional staff, allowing the office to begin work in the summer or autumn. According to Ander, the main task will be working on the new Brno spatial plan and preparing concepts for public spaces in Brno.

The Office of the Chief Architect in Brno has functioned in the past. However, according to Ander, the city abolished it in 2003 through organizational changes, resulting in the establishment of the Department of Spatial Planning and Development, which continues to operate at the magistrate today. According to Ander, officials are overwhelmed, which is why the architect's office will alleviate some of their burdens. While the office will draft the spatial plan or monitor the quality of constructions, officials from the department will tend to administrative matters, such as processing building permits or the processes related to discussing the spatial plan once the architect's office has designed it.

Brno has been operating under a spatial plan that is over 20 years old, which no longer meets the city’s needs. The council approved a significant update to the document two years ago, but the regional court annulled it a year ago due to the lack of reviewability of some of the decisions.