Modrava, one of the smallest villages in the Plzeň Region with 105 inhabitants, is building apartments for locals. The priority for the village, which registers dozens of applications for housing, is for families to live and work there, according to Mayor Jaroslav Doležal (Modrava for All). Thanks to the flats, the number of permanent residents is increasing in the tourist hotspot.
The village has been attracting young families for several years. They have been trying to transfer or buy up land on which to build, as well as rebuild older unused buildings. It is difficult to find available land because the village lies in the Šumava National Park, the Mayor said.
In the neighbouring Filipa Hut, which is part of Modrava, the municipality bought two disused buildings of an unrealised goat farm from a private individual and converted them into five flats for about CZK 15 million. The significantly smaller part with five small rooms will be used for short-term accommodation, from which the municipality wants to pay the employees in its Services Modrava Ltd. “We want to approve both parts in March,” the Mayor said. The municipality already has the flats occupied, especially by local young families, whose demand has been registered for a long time.
In total, Modrava will have 15 flats just for local families. “For the children who will grow up so that someone can stay here,” Doležal said. The population has grown from 80 to 105 in 20 years. We are one of the few municipalities in Sumava where the population is growing, we have quite a few children now,” he said.
The village has also converted a wooden building it bought into a municipal apartment and is planning four more apartments on the site of the old armoury and the old house next door in the centre. “There will be two semi-detached houses there. The project is already finished, but there is still a problem with the zoning plan, which we are now redoing. The new one will be ready within a year at the earliest, but more likely within two,” the mayor said.
Modrava has also started the new construction of a fire station connected with a collection yard, an investment worth CZK 18 million. “We have an associated unit with the national park. We provide the facilities and the park provides the people, organises the interventions and the equipment,” Doležal said. The number of exits in the area is increasing. These are mainly to help with frequent traffic accidents, fires, fallen trees and to search for lost tourists.
