Some land at the airport and in the center of Liberec may be exchanged for a villa

Liberec - Liberec may exchange part of its land at the airport and a piece of derelict land in the lower city center for a villa owned by the Liberec Region. The planned exchange is related to the efforts of the city and the region to transform this neglected land between the House of Culture and the regional office building into a park by the end of this year. CTK was informed about this today by the spokesperson of the magistrate, Jan Král.

The derelict land in the lower center is co-owned by the city and the region, with the aim of transforming it into a natural relaxation zone. The region is interested in becoming the owner of the entire area, which Liberec is likely to accommodate. "We will try to negotiate an exchange with the Liberec Region of this land and the city’s land at the airport for the villa on Klostermannova Street, which is currently used by the region for an ambulance service,” said Mayor Tibor Batthyány (ANO).

Such a proposal is also appealing to the regional governor, Martin Půta (STAN). "I consider the exchange of the mentioned plots to be reasonable," he told CTK today.

The Liberec Region has long been seeking areas at the airport, which it has leased from the city for its ambulance service. It wants to acquire parcels nearby in order to improve and expand the base's facilities. It mainly needs to build garages for another emergency response team. The rescuers are preparing to leave the villa on Klostermannova Street in the center of Liberec, which is in poor condition.

According to an expert, the land at the airport is valued at over four million crowns. The region offers half of the amount, but city councilors do not want to sell the land below the market value. They are concerned that they could face police scrutiny, as happened to 23 Liberec councilors for the sale of two parcels in 2007 to private owners. According to the indictment, they caused the city damage of 2.5 million, for which they have so far been sentenced to a three-month conditional sentence, although this is not yet final.

While the exchange is not yet finalized, work is already underway on the improvement of the derelict land near the region's headquarters. So far, unpromising trees have been cut down, and the land has been cleaned. There remains the need to remove invasive plant species and concrete rubble. The final shape of the park may also be influenced by the public. Interested parties can come to the regional building on Wednesday, June 8, where the proposed improvements will be publicly presented.

The derelict area has mainly served to shorten paths, also providing a refuge for vandals and homeless people. "The fact is that the place has been a source of negative influences, yet it is an important public space in the city center," said Deputy Mayor Karolína Hrbková (Change for Liberec) earlier.