Residents of the capital's «Krasnaya Derevnya» microdistrict have been fighting for years to preserve a public garden, the trees and shrubs of which they planted themselves. The land plot is currently in private ownership, and its owner intends to build a multi-storey block of flats on the site of the garden.
Earlier, the editorial board of FBRK sent official requests to the capital's akimat and department for land resource management (DULR) to find out what measures the authorities intended to take to resolve the controversial situation.
Based on the response from the department of architecture, urban planning and land relations of Astana, as well as court documents available to the editorial board, it was possible to reconstruct the chronology of events surrounding the land plot.
According to the department, initially, in accordance with the previous General Plan of the city (dated 23 December 2016), the plot was designated for residential development. According to the approved detailed planning project (DPP) at that time, the intended purpose of the plot was defined as «construction of a residential building».
In 2021, the department for control and quality of the urban environment filed a lawsuit to seize the land plot from the owner (at that time – LLP «Kazspetsrezerv») for non-use of the plot for its intended purpose.
During the court proceedings, it emerged that the official documents contained an error: the location of the plot and its intended purpose were incorrectly stated as – «design, construction and operation of a shopping and hotel complex».
The court ruled to correct the data for the land plot and leave it with the owner. The intended purpose of the plot was changed to «construction of a residential building».
On 2 November 2022, the owner of the plot became LLP «Fiesta Hall». On 6 October 2023, integral parking was added to the intended purpose of the plot.
On 25 January of this year, a new General Plan of the city was approved, according to which the plot is designated for city-wide public plantings.
On 24 May, at a meeting of the working group, the city department of architecture, urban planning and land relations recommended adjusting the DPP of the plot in accordance with the new General Plan and changing the intended purpose to «public garden».
However, on 9 August, based on a submission from the district prosecutor's office, this recommendation was cancelled at a meeting of the interdepartmental working group. The justification for this decision is, unfortunately, unknown.
It should be noted that from January to April, «Fiesta Hall» three times applied to the department of architecture, urban planning and land relations to agree the sketch design for «construction of a residential building with integral parking», and the department three times issued a reasoned refusal.
In the justification for the refusal, the department demanded that the dendrological plan for green spaces be finalised in accordance with the city's planting regulations. The main requirements included:
- observing the ratio of 70% deciduous and 30% coniferous trees (conifers can only be planted in the courtyard area);
- calculating the planting of 100 large-sized trees and at least 1000 shrubs per 1 hectare of the plot (if planting is not possible, compensatory planting must be carried out on the adjacent territory along streets or in parks, public gardens).
After all attempts, the company «Fiesta Hall» never took into account the requirements of the department of architecture and urban planning and went to court demanding that the reasoned refusal to agree the sketch designs be declared unlawful.
On 29 May, the court concluded that the department was abusing formal requirements, and that the sketch designs met all necessary requirements. The court found the department's refusal unlawful, overturned it, and obliged the agency to approve the sketch design of LLP «Fiesta Hall».
Thus, the department of architecture, urban planning and land relations repeatedly tried to preserve the green zone in the «Krasnaya Derevnya» area, but without success. Read about the results of communication with the DULR of Astana and the agency's response to this situation tomorrow.
To be continued…