The four trees in front of the restaurant on the terrace to the left of the main entrance of Brno Central Station disappeared earlier this week. Photo: @BrnoDaily.
Brno, Nov 30 (BD) – Angry, disappointed, sad: those are the emotions expressed by local people commenting on the felling of the four trees that provided the only natural shade at Brno Central Station on hot summer days. The developer Brno New Station Development (BNSD), the current tenant of the building, is preparing it for a complete renovation. The planned work on the restaurant building could potentially damage the shallow roots of the trees [Ailanthus] and create a risk of them falling over.
“If this procedure has met with a negative response from the public, our company is, of course, sorry but with all the above, it was a necessary step. Our company has been mandated to re-plant new larger trees, specifically locally native maples [editor’s notice: Acer platanoides, also known as Norway maple] by the end of 2019. Of course, we will fulfil our commitment in the given deadline,” stated BNSD director Radim Světlík in a press release.
The trees were removed from the restaurant terrace with all the necessary permissions, but the developer was too keen and cut the trees down too early. “The cutting down of the trees was conditioned by a binding opinion of the Railway Authority [“Drážní úřad”]. It was not yet released, so the trees were cut in violation of the law,” said Brno-center town hall spokeswoman Kateřina Dobešová, as reported by the Czech national daily Blesk (“Developer pokácel protizákonně stromy u hlavního nádraží v Brně: Hrozí mu milion pokuty”, Nov. 28). The developer is facing a fine of up to CZK 1,000,000, according to the same source.
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