Brno ODS wants a referendum on the variant of the land use plan without R43

Brno - The Civic Democratic Party in Brno wants to strive for a local referendum on whether a variant of the city's spatial plan should be processed without the R43 expressway. They believe that comparing multiple variants is a waste of money and time, just like in the case of the analysis being conducted on two locations for Brno's railway station. This was stated to reporters during a six-month evaluation of the city leadership by the opposition ODS's electoral leader Karel Hledík.
ODS, which after last year's municipal elections ended up in opposition for the first time in 16 years, is also unhappy about the alleged use of official cars by city representatives for private purposes, the strengthening of the mayor's position at the expense of the mayors of city districts, and the fact that the ruling coalition has yet to present a program declaration.
"To me, this is classic opposition rhetoric. ODS has gradually been transitioning from constructive opposition to zero tolerance," said Mayor Roman Onderka (ČSSD) to ČTK. According to him, none of the versions for the reconstruction of the Brno railway junction is preferred. The city leadership is waiting for the results of a comparative analysis of both variants, namely the station in the city center or shifted about 800 meters to the south.
Regarding the referendum on the fate of R43, Onderka agrees with the ODS proposal. "As a citizen, I support all elements of direct democracy and will raise my hand for them. However, I do not know how the rest of the city leadership will behave," said the mayor. However, according to him, the core of the problem surrounding R43 lies elsewhere, in the dispute between the Ministry of Regional Development and the South Moravian Region over whether R43 is bindingly approved in the spatial plan of the higher territorial unit. "If it turns out that R43 is not in this binding document for us, it is necessary for the Brno spatial plan to consider both variants," Onderka said.
ODS further criticized the city leadership for not yet presenting a program declaration to the representatives. "This is unprecedented in the modern history of the city of Brno," stated Leo Venclík, the mayor of the Brno-North district, in a statement. According to Onderka, the document will be ready by the end of May, and he claims that previous city leadership submitted it at the same time frame relative to the elections.