Brno residents submitted a petition against the construction of a house in the Masaryk quarter

Brno - Residents of the villa district of Masarykova in Brno today handed a petition to the city council against the construction of a four-story building with about 80 apartments and shops in their neighborhood. They claim it will ruin the panorama of náměstí Míru, which is currently dominated by the church, and will also bring traffic into the peaceful neighborhood. About 1,700 people signed the document.
About ten people gathered in the historic Chamber Hall of the new town hall for the handover of the papers. They wore reflective vests with a notice directing attention to the website www.stop-wilson.info. They also distributed leaflets to those present.
During the city council meeting, a heated argument erupted over the petition between councilor Martin Prchal (ODS) and the petition authors. The two sides shouted over each other in the hall. After being given the floor by Mayor Roman Onderka, the activists tried to present the petition. Prchal shouted at them that they could not speak because the item was not on the agenda. The mayor then allowed a vote on including the item, and the councilors approved it.
The activists claim that the private company acquired the land for the construction in a non-transparent manner. They suggest that there may have been corruption involved. People from the previous leadership of the Brno-střed district, led by ODS, who approved the project, as well as representatives of the company, deny this.
The building is to be constructed by Wilson Properity at náměstí Míru, the central space of the villa district of Masarykova. They chose former military land, now owned by the city. However, the army transferred the parcels to Brno free of charge with the condition that they would be used non-commercially. According to Green Party members and activists, the company's intentions are not non-commercial.
Opponents of the construction also criticize the fact that the town hall rented out a nearly half-hectare plot for construction to the company for 15 years for one crown per square meter per year, with the understanding that after the completion of the complex, the company would receive in exchange a plot seven times smaller in the neighborhood. "Any entrepreneur would take such a deal," said Vavřín Havlíček, chairman of the petition committee against the construction, to ČTK earlier.
However, according to Jiří Maršálek, the managing director of Wilson Properity, everything happened transparently and in accordance with the law. The entrepreneur added that if anyone had offered better conditions than Wilson Properity, they would have won the competition announced by the town hall of the city district.
The activists will continue to gather signatures for the petition. However, their effort is unlikely to be successful. Although municipal lawyers previously found that the city district made mistakes in contracting with the entrepreneur and that the contract is de facto ineffective, its termination by the city is unlikely. The leadership of Brno supports the idea of building a multifunctional house on the site of the former military complex, and the project is also in accordance with the urban plan.
Furthermore, it would be difficult for the city district of Brno-střed to terminate the contracts because it would have to compensate the investor for damages.