Klenčí pod Čerchovem in the Domažlice region is preparing a residential zone with five apartment buildings with a total of 50 flats and ten terraced houses in the former border guard barracks near the centre. The town of 1,300 inhabitants near the border wants to attract young families with children, announced Mayor Jan Bozděch (Independent Candidates for Klenčí). There is plenty of work in Klenčí, half of the residents work in local companies. But the municipality must first reconstruct the school and the house of Jindřich Šimon Baar.
“We have drawn a study, but it is not registered because the councillors have not approved it. We don’t know if we are going to make any changes there yet,” he said. Once approved by the councillors, the study will be registered as a planning document, which should be done within two years. And the township has not yet secured funding. “This is a huge investment worth hundreds of millions of crowns, it’s a project that will take decades to complete,” the mayor said. One house alone, which will house about ten apartments, is expected to cost about CZK 50 million, which is twice the township’s annual budget.
“But little by little, we want to gradually demolish the buildings that are there, and once we have the cooperation with the developer ready, we can think about building. We are not negotiating with anyone yet. We have been approached, but it’s not ready for investment yet,” Bozděch said. According to the mayor, there are several options – the construction of cooperative flats run by the municipality, which citizens will gradually buy, another option is a developer building on municipal land, which Klenčí fears because of the loss of control. The third option is cooperation between the municipality and the private sector.
According to the original plan, the former barracks were to house 100 apartments, which Bozděch said Klenčí does not need now. “So far, the plan is for five houses of nine to ten flats and ten terraced houses,” Bozděch said. The municipality still has tenants in some of the buildings, such as a large building materials retailer. One building still belongs to a private company, with which the township has agreed to buy it after it builds a facility in Domažlice.
According to the mayor, the township’s clear investment priority is the repair of the primary school, followed by the reconstruction of Baar’s house. “We cannot do the school and the construction of housing at the same time,” the mayor said. The 100-year-old school, which is attended by over 300 children from eight villages, needs to waterproof the basement, where there is mould in the changing rooms and gymnasium. After three years of applications, Klenčí received CZK 3.4 million from the Ministry of Regional Development, which is about half of the design costs. We have to complete and invoice the contract by 30 November,” he added.
Source: Klenčí pod Čerchovem and CTK
Photo: Google maps
