The Brno residents wrote a petition against the construction of a complex in Míru Square

Brno - Residents of the villa Masaryk district in Brno are against the construction of a four-story building with about 80 apartments and shops near their homes. They claim it will destroy the panorama of Peace Square, which is currently dominated by a church, and will also introduce traffic into the quiet neighborhood. Today, they submitted a petition against the building to the mayor of the Brno-střed district, Michal Bortl. The politician said he would pass it to the relevant department of urban planning and development of the Brno magistrate.
    The petition with more than 1,700 signatures was submitted by activists during the town council meeting. About ten of them wore reflective vests with a sign directing attention to the website www.stop-wilson.info. They also distributed flyers to those present. The Greens, who are also against the construction of the complex and have already filed a criminal complaint about it, wanted to push for a point on the agenda of the council meeting. The coalition made up of the ČSSD and ODS did not allow it.
    Activists and the Greens claim that the land for the building was acquired by a private company in a non-transparent manner. They imply that there may have been corruption involved. People from the previous leadership of the municipal district, who approved the project, as well as representatives of the company, reject this claim.
    The building is to be constructed on Peace Square, the central space of the villa Masaryk district, by the company Wilson Property. It chose former military land, which is currently owned by the city. However, the army transferred the parcels to Brno free of charge with the condition that they would be used for non-commercial purposes. According to the Greens and activists, the company's plan is not non-commercial.
    Opponents of the construction also criticize that the city hall rented the almost half-hectare plot to the company for 15 years for one crown per square meter per year, promising that after the completion of the complex, it would receive a plot seven times smaller in the neighborhood in exchange. "Every entrepreneur would go for such a deal," said Vavřín Havlíček, the chairman of the petition committee against the construction, to CTK today.
    According to Jiří Maršálek, the managing director of Wilson Property, everything took place transparently and in accordance with the law. The businessman added that if anyone had offered better conditions than Wilson Property, they would have won the contest announced by the city district.
    Activists will continue to collect signatures for the petition. However, their efforts are unlikely to be successful. In the past, the magistrate's lawyers discovered that the municipal district made errors when concluding contracts with the entrepreneur and that the contract is effectively not valid, but the city's termination of the contract is unlikely. The leadership of Brno likes the plan to build a multifunctional building on the site of the former military area, and the project is also in accordance with the urban plan.
    Moreover, it would be difficult for the municipal district of Brno-střed to terminate the contracts, as it would have to compensate the investor for damages.