OPEN LETTER TO THE MINISTRY REGARDING THE REFORM PROPOSAL

On Thursday, March 17, during the public hearing on the Policy Concept on e-Space reform, the documentation that was exposed to the public hearing was removed from the Internet presentation of the Ministry and the e-Consultation portal.

In this way, the public is prevented from participating in the public debate, and by removing the material from the Internet (where it was only available), the Ministry acted contrary to the Conclusion of the Committee for Economy and Finance of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the established Public Debate Program. With this open letter, we invite the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure to inform the public without delay about whether the public discussion has been interrupted and, if so, for what reasons, and to publish the notification on its website.

In order to ensure compliance with regulations, inclusion of best practices and protection of public interest in the process of reforming the urban and spatial planning system, we suggest to the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure that, after the formation of the new Government of Serbia, start consultations on this reform in accordance with the law and to enable to all interested parties equal participation in that process. With this open letter, we invite the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure to inform the public without delay about whether the public discussion has been interrupted and, if so, for what reasons, and to publish the notification on its website.

In order to ensure compliance with regulations, inclusion of best practices and protection of public interest in the process of reforming the urban and spatial planning system, we suggest to the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure that, after the formation of the new Government of Serbia, start consultations on this reform in accordance with the law and to enable equal participation in that process to all interested parties. The document, which was published on February 25 and then removed from the Internet, could be considered during the consultation as one of the options, but should not be sent to the Government for adoption, because it was prepared in a procedure that is not in accordance with the law and did not adequately see all the challenges of reforming the urban and spatial planning system.

We invite public administration bodies, academic institutions, citizens' associations, individuals and citizens to join this initiative and support the request for the opening of broad public consultations on the reform of the urban and spatial planning system in accordance with the law, after the formation of the New Government of Serbia.

The following associations and individuals sent an open letter to the Ministry:
New planning practice; Mirjana Jovanović, Belgrade Open School; "Urban hub" doo Arandjelovac; Milica Lukić, B.Sc. Pr. Planner, Faculty of Geography - University of Belgrade, Jelena Jerinić, professor at the Faculty of Law, Union University in Belgrade; Association of architects of Novi Sad; RERI – Regulatory Institute for Renewable Energy and the Environment; Ministry of Space; Anđelka Jevtović, B.Sc. Eng. page. arch, President of the Association of Landscape Architects of Serbia.

Remember in more detail what kind of document it is and listen to suggestions for its improvement recording of the press conference.