Instead of construction, only conservation work. Rail construction in Jihlava is stalled again

visualization: A32, spol. s r.o.

Jihlava – The construction of university dormitories in Jihlava had to be halted, with builders only carrying out conservation work to prevent damage. The reason is the renewal of the invalidity of the building permit due to a dispute between the residents of neighboring houses and the Central Bohemian Region, which issued the permit. The Polytechnic University of Jihlava (VŠPJ) is now waiting for confirmation of the legality of the building permit, said Václav Báča, the university's vice-rector for internal, external, and international relations, to ČTK. Disputes had previously halted the construction once before.

Báča believes that the matter will be resolved in a few weeks. "The Central Bohemian Region incorrectly delivered, and now the court has returned it to them to deliver correctly. We believe that this will happen and we will continue," said the vice-rector. According to him, the university has always planned and built the project in accordance with the laws and limits set by the land use plan. "Yet for years we have lived in uncertainty about when we will finally complete it. In June, it will be four years. And from my perspective, these four years are one big injustice; we have fulfilled everything we had to, we have documented everything we needed," said Báča.

"The defendant, the Central Bohemian Region Office, committed serious procedural errors after the case was returned, which may affect the legality of the decision on the matter itself. We had no choice but to annul the defendant's decision and return the case for further proceedings, in which they will be obliged to correct these defects," previously commented on the court's decision from February 26th by the spokesperson for the Regional Court of Hradec Králové, Kateřina Jarkovská.

According to the court, the Central Bohemian Region did not adequately address some objections regarding the building's compliance with Jihlava's land use plan. These concerns relate to the green space coefficient and the disposal of rainwater. It also did not adequately respond to other objections and made mistakes in delivering documents.

Markéta Prokešová from the press department of the Central Bohemian Region informed ČTK that the region is taking steps according to the judgment. She did not comment further on the matter.

The construction of dormitories for 200 VŠPJ students has long been accompanied by disputes. Due to the disagreement of people from nearby houses, it has repeatedly been addressed by administrative authorities and courts, and due to alleged bias regarding the building permit, neither Jihlava nor the Vysočina Region made decisions. Work has also had to be halted for several months.

Repeated interruptions of construction entail additional costs. "If any damage occurs and we are able to quantify it, we will of course have to assert it. But right now, I don't have a legal analysis for that," Báča added.

The cost of constructing the dormitories is 326 million Czech crowns. The project is being executed by a consortium of companies Podzimek, OHLA ŽS, and Metrostav DIZ.