MPs debate new Building Act, park administration among sticking points

The lower house of Parliament on Wednesday is holding its final discussion on the new Building Law, which aims to facilitate and speed up construction proceedings. Minister for Regional Development Klára Dostálová described the law as the most important currently on the agenda.

Nearly 80 amendments have been adopted to the Building Act itself, but it is unclear whether MPs will approve the draft law today. Pirate Party chairman Ivan Bartoš and other opposition lawmakers have objected to an aspect of it that would transfer responsibilities from municipalities to the newly proposed Supreme Building Authority.

Representatives of national parks and the Nature and Landscape Protection Agency (AOPK) have also objected that construction in the most strictly protected localities would no longer be decided by the administrations of such areas but by building authorities.