Plzeň has agreed with the developer of the Nová Papírna housing estate, local development group BC Real, to cooperate in civic amenity projects. Several thousand people are to live on the housing estate, and therefore, according to the city’s conditions, there must be a new kindergarten there. The developer has made an agreement with the city to sell the land for the kindergarten at a very low price and to pay for the project, which it will hand over to the city. The two sides also agreed on new boundaries for the urban and private zone. The terms, enshrined in a memorandum with the developer, were approved by the council. said Pavel Bosák (Pirates), the Deputy Mayor.
He said after taking office that the city would demand similar contributions, so-called contribitions, from all developers. The opposition welcomes the kindergarten, but does not like the fact that it will only become known during the approval process. It is demanding that the city prepare and discuss the promised system of contribs in committees, unions and the council, which the council leadership has promised.
According to Bosák, the developer will redraw the boundaries between Paper Park and the housing estate to be built on the site of the former paper mill. The park will also include a pond, which the investor will transfer to the city, while Plzeň agrees to develop another area of the same size. “The cooperation with the developer was established historically, but now it is much more complex. There is to be a waterfront for the public, a cycle path and there is a commitment to build services for citizens. Added to the current commitments is that they will transfer the land to us at a fraction of the commercial price and hand over the project,” he said. The nursery will then be built by the city. According to Irena Vostracká, director of the Concept and Development Department, the Pilsen 2 district requires a kindergarten with four classes, as the nearby kindergarten in Liliova Street is full and cannot be expanded.
“Several thousand people will live in the new housing estate when it is completed. So far, the first and second phases are permitted and are already under construction. We have now discussed a third and at least two more are in the pipeline, which I have roughly seen. I like the project. It will create a very valuable space for the citizens of the city. There will also be a fairly large natural area that will be part of the blue-green infrastructure, because it will be a meandering creek bed that will flow through the whole neighbourhood. And it will be a public open space,” Bosák said.
The city will revitalize Paper Park, which will remain its property. “And the investor will build green spaces and a waterfront. There will be an entire green space. One will be able to walk from the park through the area of the future housing estate through nature to the Radbuza River,” Bosák said.
According to opposition councillor Radoslav Škarda (TOP 09), this is at least the second contract between the city and the developer after the Slovany barracks. “Mr Bosák promised just after he took office that he would prepare a plan for contribitions, and we still don’t have it,” he said. Lukáš Hegner, of the opposition ODS, said that as a member of the development commission he had no idea that the city intended to change the zoning plan and build a kindergarten. Another opposition councillor, Jiří Lodr (KDU-ČSL), asked for a report on how traffic will be addressed in the area, i.e. the connection to Slovanka and Zahradní Street, which are already very congested.
BC Real has started construction of up to 1,500 flats on the more than ten-hectare site of the former paper mill by the Radbuza River at the end of 2022. It is the largest private housing development in Pilsen since 1989. All seven phases should be completed within ten years, but it depends on the pace of demand. The project is intended to help bring residents and businesses back to the city centre. Between 3,000 and 3,500 people are expected to live there.
Source: CTK
Photo: Nová Papírna
