DESTRUCTION OF JAHORINA CONTINUES: Municipality of Trnovo (RS) works for the interests of the construction lobby

On Jahorina, there are plans for the construction of new buildings, residential-commercial complexes, and hospitality establishments, up to ten stories high. As a result, a significant amount of forest has already been or will be cut down, endangering water and power supply, and disrupting the natural mountain environment. This will require a new water source and involves construction in existing, inadequate parking spaces, the allocation of plots up to 10 times larger than existing ones, cutting off already built structures, asphalt along the ski slope, construction on landslides and water overflow areas, and a reduction in legally required distances between multi-story buildings.

This is a summary of the regulatory plan revisions commissioned by the Municipality of Trnovo for an area covering approximately 20 hectares. This is also mentioned in the document "Revision of the Regulatory Plan for SRP Jahorina":

- A specific issue in the specified area manifests through intensive deforestation to create construction land for accommodation facilities, cottages, and traditional wood exploitation. When considering the lack of communal infrastructure regarding water supply and wastewater disposal, it can be concluded that the environment on Jahorina is gradually losing its quality, and the natural ambience is fading away, being replaced by artificial elements.

In connection with these intentions, a group of residents living on Jahorina has sent a letter to Bojan Vipotnik, the Minister for Spatial Planning, Construction, and Ecology of Republika Srpska.

- The scope includes the cutting down of the remaining forest, which acts as a natural wind barrier. Winds have become stronger since the forest was cleared for the new six-seater lift, causing concerns for house roofs during windy conditions. Additionally, it is entirely overlooked that the scope borders a part of Jahorina located in the municipality of Pale, which will be cut off from parking on the Šator plateau, as parking is eliminated by construction exceeding 1500m2. The Planning Council has already noted that Unis did not use updated data when creating the plan. It seems that none of those responsible for this plan have ever visited and surveyed the construction site – as stated in the letter.

Despite the negative opinions from expert services and public enterprises such as water supply, power distribution, OC Jahorina, including the Planning Council, the Municipality Assembly of Trnovo and the mayor decided to make the plans publicly available. The revision of the regulatory plan for the sports and recreational area of Jahorina in the Trnovo municipality expired in the planning period of 2021, and the new Municipal Assembly has neither proposed nor adopted it.

The first regulatory plan concerns an area of five hectares, developed by Radis from Lukavica. They did not accept objections related to illegally erected structures submitted to the regulatory plan.

The second regulatory plan was prepared by the Unis Institute for Ecology, Occupational Safety, and Fire Protection, Eastern Sarajevo. More than 80 objections were raised against this document, and a public discussion was scheduled for October 5th at the Trnovo Cultural Center.

The discussion was interrupted because the Institute's representatives had no response to the objections received, nor could they clarify whether they were considered, accepted, or rejected—even when they would have information on the matter.

The Trnovo Municipality told Žurnal that they expect a new statement from the Institute and a new date for public discussion:

- If all tasks are not completed by the UNIS Institute as agreed, cooperation with them will be terminated – says the Trnovo Municipality.

We asked the Institute why they did not address the objections, reject them, or include them in the plan, and why their representatives were unprepared for the discussion. We did not receive a response.

Following the unsuccessful public discussion, numerous owners of existing properties on Jahorina concluded that the "Municipality is obedient to the Institute, which works in the interest of the construction lobby on Jahorina".

The objections raised against the plan by the owners of existing properties on Jahorina indicate that the proposed solutions involve closing roads to some houses. In areas that have served as parking, the plan includes the construction of multi-story buildings, exacerbating the issue of parking shortages during the winter months in the tourist season. The roadway is expanding towards ski slopes, the ski trail route is narrowing, and the plots of existing business properties are expanding up to ten times. This includes enclosing and fencing existing cottages.

Inadequate planning of parking spaces in areas with steep slopes would require retaining walls of over two meters. During the unsuccessful public discussion, property owners highlighted numerous inconsistencies, such as road intersections, closure of access to garages, and the already evident deforestation of large forested areas. Moreover, such solutions will seriously jeopardize water and power supply. Significant interventions, impossible to carry out in the short term, will be required to ensure power supply to new consumers.

If the wishes of the investors are respected, the water supply issue will not only affect Jahorina but also Pale and part of East Sarajevo. During a professional discussion on the Draft Plan, it was noted that a new water source is needed for this area. The objections addressed to the Municipality and the Institute state:

- The existing water supply system currently does not meet the minimum criteria for water supply, and cottage owners themselves provide pressure in the pipes using pumps funded by their own resources.

Supporting these claims is a document from the 2023 Pale Waterworks, stating:

- The supply of existing properties in the 2nd Zone of the distribution network in the Trnovo municipality is currently carried out by a network of insufficient profile... development plans for the designated area will increase the consumption area, which may pose a problem.

In 2020, the Water and Sewerage Utility of Pale refused to give consent for the location of a vacation home within this area because the existing planning documentation was adopted without their approval. They stated that, according to this documentation (Amendment to part of the Revision of the Regulatory Plan for SRP Jahorina in the Trnovo municipality), they cannot guarantee reliable and quality water supply:

- The authorities in the Trnovo Municipality are aware of the necessary activities to define a quality infrastructure development solution for the designated area through planning documentation, ensuring proper water supply for all existing and planned objects. Until the planning documentation is harmonized and solutions are amended, this utility cannot issue consent for the designated area – as stated in the document.

In January of this year, the Water and Sewerage Utility granted consent for the location of a building on Jahorina with the condition of expanding existing reservoir capacity and the main distribution pipeline along the Mladost - Šator route, along with numerous other conditions that need to be fulfilled.

Regarding the Draft Regulatory Plan, two complaints have been filed with the Inspectorate of Republika Srpska. The reported entities include the Municipality of Trnovo, the Municipal Assembly of Trnovo, the mayor of the Municipality Dragan Gagović, Unis Institute, and Mlađenka Rađen, the urban planner of the Municipality of Trnovo. The complaint states that procedural mistakes were made during the preparation and drafting of the plan and that representatives of the Institute had no responses to the objections received:

- The Municipal Assembly of Trnovo and Mayor Dragan Gagović deliberately ignored the negative opinions received from expert services and the Planning Council, and made an unlawful decision to put the regulatory plan up for public review and discussion. The entity responsible for drafting the document, Unis Institute, does not meet the requirements of the Law on Spatial Planning and Building of Republika Srpska in terms of professional and permanently employed staff. Mlađenka Rađen, a higher professional associate for urban planning and construction in the Municipality of Trnovo, cannot be a member of the Council because it contradicts Article 43 of the Law, which explicitly states that Council members cannot be individuals who, in any way, participate in the drafting of spatial planning documents – as stated in the complaint.

Among other details in the complaint, it is noted that the entity responsible for drafting did not depict the planned routes of high-voltage power lines and the routes of water supply and communal infrastructure. This information is crucial for maintaining existing ski slopes and their infrastructure, as well as for the functional application of the Draft Plan.

(zurnal.info)