Riga City Council to turn to Constitutional Court over suspended Riga spatial plan

RIGA - The Riga City Council decided today to turn to the Constitutional Court over the Environmental Protection and Regional Development Ministry's decision to suspend Riga spatial plan.

At an extraordinary meeting today, representatives of the coalition mostly spoke about the disproportionate nature of the ministry's decision, suspending the entire spatial plan, not just those parts of the plan to which the ministry had objections.

Many speakers also criticized Environmental Protection and Regional Development Minister Arturs Pless' (Development/For) for his role and lobbying for the interests of gambling business.

As reported, the Environmental Protection and Regional Development Ministry has suspended Riga spatial plan due to its non-compliance with law and lack of proportionality between the interests of the parties involved. Pless said that the plan would have to be revamped.

The ministry concluded that two mutually uncoordinated spatial plans were in force in the territory of Riga at the same time, which goes against law that stipulates a city may have just one spatial plan.

On the other hand, Riga City Council said that the Environmental Protection and Regional Development Ministry assesses spatial plans' compliance with laws and regulations and ensures supervision of spatial development planning. The Riga City Council believes that it is unacceptable that the ministry has begun to voice objections to the plan when it entered into force, even though in the past it had no objections.