Real estate developers win in court another chunk of Bucharest’s green spaces

Bucharest Court rejected on March 1 the request expressed by local NGO Ecopolis for the invalidation of the urban planning documents (PUZ) for districts 2 and 4. Reff & Asociații | Deloitte Legal, on the real estate developers’ side, announced that investors’ interest was protected.

The rulings can be appealed, but the documents are not suspended until the appeal is judged, Hotnews.ro reported.

The PUZs, endorsed by Bucharest municipality during the term of Gabriela Firea (Social Democratic Party PSD), allow, in general, more green spaces to be used for building and a higher density of tall buildings, the green NGOs claim.

The reason cited by mayor Nicușor Dan (Liberal Party PNL) for suspending the PUZs in 2021 was the reduction of the area of ​​green space.

Hotnews.ro has reported since the public debate period that the document allows the transformation of over 30 hectares of land on the shores of Lakes Colentina, Tei, Plumbuita and Fundeni, but also from the park near the National Arena from green spaces to areas where real estate developers can build blocks and houses.

The associations that asked for the invalidation of the PUZs in court are eager to see the judges’ motivation. It remains to be seen the motivation, given that based on similar reasons, the PUZs of districts 3, 5 and 6 were cancelled by the court under final decisions.

At the beginning of last year, the Bucharest Court suspended all the PUZs for districts 2, 4 and 5 pending the judgment of the annulment proceedings. The PUZs of districts 3 and 6 were already cancelled, and the PUZ of district 5 was also cancelled last year.

Before this decision, on February 26, 2021, the PNL-USR majority in the General Council, at the proposal of mayor Nicușor Dan, approved the one-year suspension of the Zonal Urban Plans for districts 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

(Photo source: Albertophotography | Dreamstime.com