The FBRK editorial team continues to cover the twists and turns of the standoff in the capital's microdistrict "Krasnaya Derevnya", where residents have for several years been actively fighting to preserve a green area created by their own hands.
We have learned that on 17 December a public consultation will be held in Astana regarding the development of the plot where the park is located. Activists will have a real opportunity to influence its future.
This was announced by the Department of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Astana in response to our official inquiry.
As a reminder, the park at the intersection of Ablai Khan Avenue and G. Musrepov Street is on private land.
Previously, our editorial team reported in detail on the owner of the plot - Fiesta Hall LLP and associated companies, as well as the transformation of the plot's designated purpose in official documents.
Initially, the plot was intended for residential construction. However, on 25 January 2024, a new General Plan for the city was adopted, according to which this area should contain public green spaces.
However, as it turned out, the inclusion of a green zone in the city's General Plan does not in reality guarantee its preservation on the site.
On 24 May this year, the Department of Architecture, Urban Planning and Land Relations of Astana made a first attempt to preserve the park: at a working group meeting, it proposed amendments to the detailed planning project (DPP) of the plot and a change to its designated purpose.
Despite the interdepartmental working group rejecting this recommendation, it emerged that at a subsequent meeting of the architecture department's working group on 24 October, a proposal to preserve the green zone was again put forward.
On 12 November 2024, Fiesta Hall LLP formally submitted an application for a permit for tree felling. However, taking into account the approved Astana General Plan and the recommendations of the architecture department, the Department of Environmental Protection refused the company permission to fell the trees "until all circumstances are clarified".
The fate of the plot remains uncertain, but residents of the microdistrict, who have fought for years to preserve the park, have finally gained a real chance to influence the situation.
The public consultation will take place on 17 December 2024 at 11:00 at the address: Astana, Respubliki Avenue, 32, first floor.
The FBRK editorial team will closely follow developments.
As a reminder, on 11 December it became known that the Department for Land Resources Management (DLRM) of Astana does not intend to conduct an inspection of the land plot in the "Krasnaya Derevnya" microdistrict.
Furthermore, in reviewing the official inquiry from the FBRK editorial team, the department violated the requirements of the Administrative Procedural Code (APC RK).
We have sent an official inquiry to the capital's prosecutor's office asking for a legal assessment of the department's actions.
As a reminder, in February last year it was reported that another capital plot, once owned by Timur Kulibayev, was proposed to be turned into a recreational area. It was decided to create a park on its site. This project is already nearing completion.
It should be emphasised that at the time, the head of the Land Resources Management Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture, Murat Temirzhanov, was actively promoting the initiative to create a green zone on this plot.
Incidentally, in an interview with FBRK founder, journalist Kirill Pavlov, Mr Temirzhanov touched on issues of the shortage of parks and gardens in major cities of Kazakhstan, as well as competition in the allocation of land plots.
Notably, then, a year ago, in the case of another plot, the capital's Department for Land Resources Management found grounds for its seizure from the ex-president's son-in-law.
Today, however, the department states that "sufficient grounds" are needed to inspect the plot in the "Krasnaya Derevnya" microdistrict.
This raises a reasonable question: who is behind "Fiesta Hall" and the story of building over the park in the capital?
To be continued...