Committee for physical planning accepts package of sectoral bills

On Tuesday the parliamentary committee for physical planning adopted, by majority vote, a package of three construction and spatial bills, while the opposition once again demanded that the bills be withdrawn from procedure, or at least sent to a third reading, which was deemed as unnecessary by responsible Minister Branko Bačić.

Bačić: Either we adopt this bill or the land will be ruined

"The Physical Planning Act may not be perfect, but compared with the current one it drastically raises the bar in terms of protecting space as a public good. Nothing significant would change if we adopted it later, because the law will not change - we are convinced that we are protecting space far better than we are now. This is the political position of this government: either we adopt this bill or the current one remains in place, and it will destroy Croatian space," the minister stated.

He added that the bills need to be adopted because, as of 1 January, a new system of digital spatial planning will come into force, under which spatial plans will be standardised throughout Croatia.

"At the proposal of the Croatian Chamber of Architects, we are developing an urban and architectural tender and providing local authorities with a new tool. We are also introducing the urban development project as a new planning instrument which brings together three processes - environmental protection procedures, the development of an urban development plan, and the issuing of a location permit - all in one place, which will drastically speed up procedures," he said.

A bill written for citizens, not interest groups

Responding to criticism that the bill favours big business, Bačić emphasised that every article of the bill is written for Croatian citizens, not for interest groups.

"Yes, it is written for investors who build family houses. As for affordable housing, there are no private investors involved - such housing is built solely by public investors: the state through APN, and local authorities through their public institutions," he said.

He dismissed claims that construction would be permitted on non-building land, stressing that this will be exceptionally allowed only for public investors in affordable housing. "If the state or a local authority has to buy land, then forget about affordable housing," he added.

With regard to urban land consolidation, the most controversial issue, the opposition warned that majority owners holding 50 per cent plus one of the land area and private investors can still carry it out, while the minister insisted that consolidation cannot take place unless it is specified in the local authority’s urban development plan in cases involving private owners.

"Only a public institution, a municipality, town or county, can propose consolidation through an urban development project," he said.

Source: HINA

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