Residents of the capital's Krasnaya Derevnya (Red Village) microdistrict are fighting to preserve a public garden at the intersection of Ablai Khan Avenue and G. Musrepov Street, talks about the development of which have been ongoing for several years.
And although activists have succeeded in getting the local public garden included in the master plan of Astana city until 2035, its fate remains unresolved because the green area is on privately owned land.
The editorial board of FBRK decided to find out who actually owns the public garden that has become a favourite among local residents, and what plans the owner has for it.
Activists report that the green area in the Krasnaya Derevnya microdistrict was created collectively: residents planted trees and shrubs.
Local residents first learned about the development of the public garden in 2021, when it emerged that the owner – KazSpetsRezerv LLP – intended to build a multi-storey residential building on this site.
In fact, the company KazSpetsRezerv is the third owner of the plot; until 2003 it belonged to Sistema-M LLP, and after that to Intersistem LLP until 2010.
KazSpetsRezerv LLP is involved in property rental and management. The company's first director is Askar Alibayev, and the founder is Saida Kokanova.
The company is a party to several court cases. In particular, one of them is related to illegal tree felling in the aforementioned public garden.
In January 2021, the capital's akimat (city administration) attempted to expropriate the land plot from KazSpetsRezerv LLP, as the owner had not been using it for its intended purpose since 2010.
According to case materials, the intended use of the plot was "design, construction and operation of a shopping and hotel complex".
However, the company stated that using the plot for its intended purpose was impossible, a fact which only became known when the architectural planning assignment was issued.
For this reason, the intended use of the plot had to be changed to "construction of a residential complex", and the start of construction and installation work was postponed to February 2021.
Ultimately, the court decided to refuse the expropriation of the plot.
Soon after, KazSpetsRezerv LLP began clearing the plot for further construction. The company managed to cut down 11 trees before local residents brought the matter to public attention.
The court ordered KazSpetsRezerv LLP to plant 220 trees, as the initial felling was carried out without the necessary permits.
It is worth noting that the company KazSpetsRezerv was involved in a similar case concerning the development of a plot in Ust-Kamenogorsk.
In 2017, the partnership filed a lawsuit against the city's mayor (akim) seeking recognition of the right to receive a new plot, arguing that the original plot could not be used for its intended purpose as it was located within a water protection zone.
However, the court refused the claim, finding no legal grounds for issuing a new plot, nor any direct involvement of the Ust-Kamenogorsk mayor in the process.
But let us return to the public garden.
In April 2022, the company KazSpetsRezerv sold the plot to Oпалубка Арендасы (Formwork Rental) LLP. The contract amount was 85 million tenge.
However, according to representatives of Formwork Rental LLP, the seller did not inform them in advance about the protests from local residents or the obligation to plant over 200 trees.
The company attempted to terminate the contract through the courts, but the claim by Formwork Rental LLP was refused.
Probably for this reason, in November 2022, Formwork Rental LLP sold the plot to Fiesta Hall LLP, which, incidentally, is engaged in the restaurant business.
Currently, the plot is pledged to Microfinance Organisation "MiG Credit Astana" LLP.
The editorial board of FBRK has sent an official request to the akimat of Astana city to find out what measures the local authorities intend to take to preserve the green area in the Krasnaya Derevnya microdistrict.
To be continued…