In Podolí near Brno, there will be a referendum against the developer's plan for massive construction

Podolí – In Podolí near Brno, a developer wanted to build 95 family houses in the area Nad paloukem. However, a large part of the locals opposed this, so the council had no choice but to announce a referendum. It was originally supposed to take place in August, but after a court intervention, it will be held together with the elections for the Chamber of Deputies on October 8 and 9. People who want the public vote insist that only 48 houses be built in the area according to the original study from 2012. According to Mayor Vítězslav Eliáš (Za Podolí u Brna), there is no longer anything to vote on, as the contractual relationship of cooperation between the municipality and the developer expired at the end of August, and the developer no longer wanted to wait, he told ČTK.

According to Radek Boček, who is the chairman of the Podoláci association and initiated the calling of the referendum, as well as a representative for the same grouping, the referendum is significant. It is not primarily about the developer, but about the council's approach to the area. The mayor's grouping has six members in the nine-member council, and the municipal leadership has drawn up a contract with the developer on what the construction should look like. Nearly twice as many houses were supposed to be crammed into the roughly nine-hectare plot than the study allows. According to Eliáš, the contract was beneficial for the municipality, and the full text is also available on the website. "Let the people say how Podolí should develop," Boček said. About 600 residents wanted the referendum, which is half of those who have the right to vote in the municipality.

Eliáš stated that the municipality worked on the contract for 1.5 years to include all the requirements, but the developer conditioned his interest in the project on everything being resolved by the end of August. "I think this is a loss for the municipality, and I believe this is a political struggle," the mayor said.

Whether the developer will build on the plots he owns in various forms is uncertain. It depends on his further decision. According to the zoning plan and study, 48 family houses can stand here. According to the contract that the developer signed with the municipality, four people represent him: Eva Adday, Adam Adday, Marcela Saidová, and Adam Said. According to Boček, the developer has already built one illegal structure in the municipality.

In Podolí, a referendum was already held six years ago. At that time, Mayor Eliáš sought to establish a casino at the edge of the municipality's cadastre. 68 percent of voters cast their ballots, with a third of them voting in favor. Although the citizens opposed the mayor's idea at that time, his grouping won 63 percent of the votes in the 2018 elections.