Nezávislý čtvrtletník, vycházející ve spolupráci se Společností proti developerské výstavbě v Prokopském údolí

Člověk mnoho vydrží, má-li cílT. G. Masaryk

Noviny o současném dění v Prokopském údolí a okolí4/2016 – 1/2017

PROKOPÁKPROKOPÁK

Václav Kubec:Hlubočepy – Nad můstkem

» Continued on page 3 » Continued on page 4

Miroslav Salava

* * *Úplná tuna tmyHřmíA pod Beránkem tišeBagry jako číšeA to se smí?

Barrandov suffersfrom wild constructionTerritorial proceedings have been opened for further construction in Weri-

chova and Hugo Haase streets, i.e. on the fi eld between Barrandov and Holyně. The original plan, which promised to reduce the residential housing

development of Barrandov in the direction of the built-up area of the village of Holyně, has undergone a fundamental change. As part of the project, there are again fi ve-fl oor and six-fl oor residential buildings and one of the planned build-ings has even seventeen fl oors! All will be connected to the existing overloaded water and sewage systems. In addition to that, there is a minimal number of park-ing places and almost no public facilities for the new residential complexes. How is this possible under the law? Easily: Prague 5 grants an exception.

The application was fi led by FINEP, which owns and manages most of the land there through one of its subsidiaries, established solely for the construction in Barrandov. It is fully controlled by another company from the FINEP group – but this one is based in Malta* and last year took command after another company from the group – this time based in Cyprus*. But let‘s now leave the opaque structure of the developer and headquarters of its subsidiaries in the tax havens aside and let‘s return to Barrandov.

The project with the working title of CASCADES F, G, H, I is totally insensitive both to the present and new residents of the affected part of Barrandov and is created only for the purpose of generating the highest possible profi t.

Public facilities in that locality are no longer suffi cient by now and people do not have anywhere to park. Yet, the new project does not intend to increase

Prokop quarry – Gate to a different world?No, do not wave your hand in advance. We are not going to tell you

about mysterious abysses or wells that are gates to other dimensions and similar cock-and-bull stories. Our narration will be much more prosaic. It

is true that people have already set foot on the Moon, but on Earth there are still places where man has not entered yet. And that does not have to be in remote exotic areas. One of such mysterious worlds we have perhaps right under our feet – in the depths of the Bohemian Karst. Nowadays, scientists already suspect that somewhere down there, deep below the landscape, there is a completely different world – extensive karst systems with massive water reservoirs and rag-ing underground streams. However, so far they have been looking for some entry gate into these spaces. But the Czech Karst keeps its secrets guarded and will not let anyone in.

When it comes to the Czech Karst, people mostly imagine the Karlštejn re-gion or Koněprusy caves. But the territory of the Bohemian Karst reaches much further, spreading out all the way to the western edge of Prague, where also the Prokop valley is its part. And our valley is not only some insignifi cant tip of the Bohemian Karst. Here, we can fi nd even a real volcano, a beautiful rock amphitheater and a number of other rarities. Among them is undoubtedly also the remarkable eastern wall of the Great Prokop quarry, made up of layers of limestones, which have been deposited here for millions of years on the bottom of the tropical sea. Well preserved, undamaged by vandals, climbers, or various devastations, it literally looks like a picture from a textbook.

2 Prokopák 4/2016 – 1/2017

The Prokopák magazine presents itself as an independent periodi-cal. The term independent peri-

odical then gives the impression of universal objectivity.

Such a periodical looks like it is not dependent on anyone and any-thing; and, therefore, it should have the advantage of not having to pub-lish various manipulative articles and information as periodicals that are dependent on someone or some-thing.

The problem is that if such a pe-riodical publishes only one-sided ar-ticles that offer a single point of view to the given set of problems, then a question may arise if the presented independence is not actually a de-pendence on this one point of view, defi ned by subjective feelings and maybe also by interests.

The Prokopák quarterly in nice. I am glad it is published and actively addresses the problems of the place where my family lives and which we like very much. Also for this reason I welcome the fact that it focuses on development activities in the Prokop valley and devotes a lot of time, effort and space to this topic.

However, when reading articles on this topic, I have an increasingly stronger feeling that, instead of at least trying to objectively and espe-cially impartially assess complicated processes, complex problems and di-verse interests naturally occurring at each construction in such a sensitive environment, there is a prevailing bi-ased anti-developmental mantra with clear culprits – some politicians from Prague 5.

Councilors Homola and Richter are repeatedly at the pillory. Both can have, quite naturally, different views of what is and what is not ben-efi cial from the viewpoint of citizens of the city district, what could be built where and what they would never want to see, what is a priority and what is marginal. In certain things I agree with them, in other things my

opinion is diametrically different from theirs. Quite understandably, this is just as it is among people in a healthy society and it is also correct.

However, I know both these gen-tlemen a little bit, and what I can say with a perfectly calm conscience is that neither of them has ever come close to the nasty political bottom – to let, for money or other benefi ts, various lobbyists or fi gurines passing themselves off as lobbyists control them and, thus, to work for their pit-tance against the interests of public goods that were entrusted to them by citizens. I am also convinced that both gentlemen during their decision-making have not intentionally harmed the interests of the subject they repre-sent for the benefi t of other subjects or for their own benefi t. And that unlike a long line of other politicians who peacefully enjoy their benefi ts with-out media attention.

To citizens who have no experi-ence in politics the solution of the clear as day inequities may seem to be strangely lengthy, suspicious, non-transparent and a priori corrupt. It can be so but also, it can be different. Political decisions have the advan-tage and also the disadvantage of having to go through a complicated democratic debate that refl ects all sorts of interests as well as totally dif-ferent views of the world. And, fi nally, these decisions should be made with-in the valid legislative limits. The result is sometimes detrimental, sometimes to the benefi t of the matter.

An illustrative example is the dis-cussion of the Semering project. The fact that the construction of a block of fl ats in the place of one of the few little spots for children at the entrance to the Prokop valley is, from the view-point of the citizens of Hlubočepy, a step in the wrong direction is clear to everyone who lives in Hlubočepy. I do not know who the developer of this project is and how they got the land-use decision that was issued at a time when neither of these gentlemen

worked in the town hall or in the local government. To investigate whether this process took place, in the past, in accordance with the rule of law and without corrupt benefi ts is all right and it is also a legitimate requirement of citizens‘ associations.

But I know what current activities and efforts Mr. Richter and Mr. Ho-mola have exercised so that even in the situation when the building permit really exists and the developer quite naturally points to the investments in-vested, the increasing damage and the court proceedings, to keep this little spot for the current use. I know the dilemma Councilor Richter has to deal with, knowing that the building site offered to the developer for the exchange, which is the property of the city, has a value determined by an expert opinion higher by millions of Czech Korunas than the building site on which the developer‘s inten-tion is to be realized (and which, in case that it returns to the ownership of the municipality, will not be built up,

i.e. it will, de facto, further reduce its price) and in case of execution of the exchange, he can be accused by the next generations of representatives or activists that he has reduced the prop-erty to the city by this amount (and probably got some of that money into his own pocket). And he is solving this problem with nonsensical attacks in the background, claiming that he him-self participated in the situation that has arisen.

This is an unenviable situation but, above all, a completely unfair assess-ment of the role of both representa-tives in this matter.

Politicians have to put up with much more attention and criticism than ordinary citizens, that‘s all right. But they undoubtedly also have the right to an objective discussion when assessing their actions and decisions. This is my contribution to this discus-sion.

It is a slightly different view which, however, will hopefully contribute to the fact that in the future Prokopák will be considered to be a truly indepen-dent and objective newspaper.

Mirek Šachta

A slightly different view

Opinion of the magazine editorsOur opinion is diametrically different from the opinion of the author of the

above-mentioned article. The gentlemen in question, currently in high public offi ces, are not, in our opinion, profi table for the Prokop valley.

The current mayor, Richter, a graduate in civil engineering, active in develop-ment and construction companies (CTR Sluncová, CTR Výhledová, CTR Jezerka, Zeocem, CL, his own company JPR Development etc.), probably will not cease to

be faithful to his profession and to his old acquaintances for the benefi t of citizens and nature only because – in his own words – he has already given up all his activities in the development.

Likewise, Dr. Homola, gradually a member of the Civic Democratic Party, Public Affairs, European Democrats, now the Democrats of Jan Kasl, with short interludes of „without political affi liation“. As a member of the Land Use Devel-opment Committee he, already during his second term of offi ce, lashes out with paragraphs mainly when explaining why this or that construction can no longer be stopped and why this or that construction must be allowed.

Our opinion is confi rmed by facts. The city council commissioned an urban study of Barrandov, which almost doubled the development of the area between the tram turntable and Holyně. The city council clamorously appeals against the decision of the building authority (Barrandov Cascades, see the article on the cov-er page for details of the construction) and, at the same time, it was the city council itself who have appointed the leaders of the building authority! Is not this only a purposeful manipulation of citizens and a continuation of Milan Jančík‘s style?

The study of the completion of the Barrandov housing estate, paid from taxpayers‘ money. With the density of the built-up area and by ignoring the surrounding nature it strikingly reminds of the ingloriously planned development of Dívčí hrady…

New BookRegular author of articles in our mag-

azine, Ms. Lucie Kaletová, has pub-lished an interesting book. Josefína a

bytosti (Josephine and Beings), as its name goes, will lead us into the world of legends of the Slavs of the primeval settlement of the Prokop valley where, however, we can pass with a dose of fantasy even today. The author has supplemented the book with the following dedication: „All the love I have for the Prokop valley and the peo-ple who lived here once I have put into this story. That is why I dedicate it to all who care for the preservation of the valley.“

PROKOPÁK, a quarterly published by the friends of the Prokop valley, number 4/2016 - 1/2017, volume 3. Published by Jiří Hurdálek (cell phone: 775 155 027). Secretariat of the editorial board: Michal Šanda. Graphics design: Roman Kánský (Roman.kennel@seznam.cz). Graphic processing: Pavel Amler (typoamler@atlas.cz). Address of the editorial board: K Dalejím 1180, Prague 5, E-mail: Prokopak@centrum.cz. Facebook: www.facebook.com/spdvystavbe. Registered in the records of periodical press under registration number MK ČR E 22059. Published on 12th May 2017.

Prokopák 4/2016 – 1/2017 3

Barrandov suffers from wild constructionthe comfort in the locality and the city district does not require compliance with the legal quotas there either.

In accordance with the current project, 1,248 new apartments are planned to be built. That means at least 2,500 new residents of Barrandov. For these people FINEP plans to build a total of 190 m² of commercial space, which is roughly the size of one smaller restaurant. A post offi ce, a school, services and shops are not taken into account here. From this point of view, the project is in a direct contradiction with both the law and the applicable land-use plan, but as it is customary in Prague 5, the construction will be most likely (again) allowed as an exception-ally tolerable one.

In accordance with a study, which the developer has commis-sioned, people are not interested in apartments bigger than 2 rooms + a kitchen corner. Thus, most of the of-fered apartments will be again in the

category of living for „singles“, i.e. 1 room + a kitchen corner. There is inter-est in such apartments. Many people purchase them as an investment with

a vision of a secondary income from rental. And just like a developer, the buyers do not care about the environ-ment but profi t. Moreover, depending on the fl oor area, these apartments can be by a simple construction ad-justment changed to 2 rooms + a

kitchen corner. However, FINEP will approve 1 + kc apartments. That is signifi cantly cheaper. The Decree stipulates the obligation to build one

parking space for each apartment up to 100 m² but for an apartment with the 1+kc disposition only a half (!) of the parking space is suffi cient. Thus, with the planned number of new apartments, other at least 80 cars circling ev-ery afternoon around the housing estate and looking for a free parking space to park can be expected in the future.

In the past, the project was already once rejected due to its contradiction with the law and the land-use plan. However, for-mer mayor Radek Klíma, M.D. annulled this rejec-tion. Neither Ing. Jana

Voříšková, who is currently in charge of this matter at the building offi ce, sees any problem in the above-men-tioned facts. She promotes the inter-ests of FINEP and is willing to allow the project as it was submitted.

If people are not going to protest

against the excessive building vigor-ously (in an offi cial way), the devel-opers with the blessing from the of-fi cials of the city district of Prague 5 will build up the entire territory from Slivenec all the way to Radlice in a few years. The conservation area will not stop them either – on the contrary, the Prokop valley is a welcomed mar-keting blockbuster for them.

Just as for the JRD company, for which in January 2017 the building offi ce issued a decision on location of the building for the Diamantica vil-las as well as the Trilobit residential complex in the Hlubočepská Street. By the end of March 2017, the of-fi ce opened a procedure for the extension of the building permit for the construction of two Semmering apartment buildings on the site of a playground in the K Dalejím street. All these parcels are in the conserva-tion area of the Prokop valley or on its border.

JUDr. Lenka Vančatováedited and abridgedby the editorial staff

* Source: Annual Report 2016, FINEP BARRANDOV ZÁPAD k.s., Trade Register

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The fi rst piece of the Cascades is already standing. If the offi ce is responsive, this way of building in parts, the so-called „salami method“, enables to circumvent the requirements of the land-use plan.

Without the contamination of the Dalejský potok stream right on the day of the

celebrations of „World Water Day“ (March 21), which is probably fate-ful, even though I do not know which cynic would like to celebrate in such a way, the cause of the water penetra-tion from the sewerage system would

not be found out. I almost wanted to write „thanks to the contamination“. It looks like a stupid phrase, but it‘s true. If, by chance, I did not go for a walk through the Prokop valley and did not smell the bad odor rising from the sur-

face of the stream and could not see that „fi lm“ of every color of the rain-bow on the surface, I do not know if anyone would call for help in time. Some eyewitnesses looked rather lax and were wondering why they should call somewhere. As soon as I got to the phone, I called 158 (the police line). I reported what I saw at the spot and described the place from where the polluted water fl owed. The fi rst to arrive were members of the Czech

Police and we made a record of the facts. Then a member of the Munici-pal Police arrived who had, already before his arrival, informed the Fire Brigade of the Capital City of Prague. The fi refi ghters arrived in no time and immediately installed several curb walls into the stream to prevent the penetration of the contamination all the way into the Vltava River.

It did not rain that day, so the leak-age from the overfl ow pipeline into the stream had no logical explana-tion. As it was discovered during the week, there was a partial collapse of the sewer overfl ow. When we disregard the fact that substances of petroleum origin do not belong even to the sewer system, then they do not belong to the environment at all!!!

Let us now focus on the reason for the disrupting of the sewer collector. In the given locality, it moves from the left bank to the right bank, which is the stumbling block. After the demolition of the Technoplyn factory, conditions for the construction of villas were cre-ated in accordance with the JRD de-

velopment project. The condition for the imple-mentation of the project was, on the part of the Department for the Envi-ronment, the restoration of the right bank of the stream and the redevel-opment of the land under the former factory in ac-cordance with the valid legislation. Although the stream was restored, rain downpipes from already inhabited plots enter right into the stream. PVK staff have found and redevel-oped the point of disrup-tion of the sewer, however, the whole thing is like a timed bomb.

Other construction is underway, directly above the place where the factory was located and where a whole range of chemicals were stored. And now there‘s a question. Has anyone arranged for land analy-ses of the sites under the factory? If so, what have they found out? And in the case that they have found out

some chemical contamination, what measures have they taken?

All those would-be eco-friendly measures of JRD will come to the sur-face one day anyway and only then we will see what was real and what was only quasi-real in order to build.

In Prague, on April 19Zdeňka Hodinářová

Ecologist and retiredHydraulic Engineer

The third day of the crash – the fl owing of the Dale-jský potok stream into the Vltava River in the protec-tion zone of the Podolská vodárna water source.

Photo: Jiří Hurdálek

Unfortunately, the curb walls were ef-fective only for a short period of time.

Photo by Jiří Hurdálek

Quasi

Motto: „The truth will come up like oil on water!“

Dalejský potok is perhaps the last area in Prague where trouts have thrived up to this day. After the accident, it will be no great shakes anymore. And it would be even worse in the case that the possible construction

of a housing estate in the site of Technoplyn would start. Let‘s hope that after this warning common sense and nature protection will prevail and not an „eco-friendly“ developer who is about to build „luxury living in nature“ on the site of a former chemical factory, which remained lying in the form of rubble, which the builders are probably planning to use as a rampart for their half-buried blocks of fl ats. There are other twelve sewage collectors like the one that has collapsed at the site of Technoplyn and nobody knows when a similar accident can hap-pen again. You will fi nd more photographs and videos from the oil spill at the Dalejský potok stream at www.facebook.com/spdvystavbe.

Editorial team

4 Prokopák 4/2016 – 1/2017

Society against development constructionAfter careful consideration, we have decided to run for the parliamentary

elections in the autumn of 2017. We are aware of the fact that a party running for one single electoral district has a minimal chance of getting

to the Parliament. On the contrary, this act may seem strange to the uninitiated and may make the Society against development construction in the Prokop val-ley somewhat spurious. Unfortunately, things happen faster than the election calendar. To wait for the municipal elections, where there is a real chance to be elected to the Prague 5 City Council, could be too late for the Prokop val-ley. Through the parliamentary candidature we want to bring the issue of the ravaging of developers to the attention of as many people as possible, as soon as possible, and try to stop this ravaging. After all, for this reason the Prokopák magazine is published.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe thank everyone who have contributed with any amount of money

to the publishing of the Prokopák magazine. We use the money exclusively to arrange for printing and other necessary tasks (e.g. sending compulsory copies to libraries). Also, thanks to your help, this number could come out.

The account number of Prokopák is 9404590001/5500

Prokop quarry – Gate to a different world?But about 150 years ago, every-

thing looked different there. In the places of the present rock wall, the entrance to the famous Prokopská cave opened, which was probably also quite a terrifying environment. At least such an impression the cave

made on a writer, Jakub Arbes, who in his book „Surroundings of Prague“ speaks about it in this way: „…when I walk through deep crevices, I can constantly hear the rush of drops and the dark roar of groundwater, which increases the impression of frightful-ness quite a lot, especially when we remind ourselves that we are about

120 meters deep in the rock below the little church...“

But, unfortunately, at the time of Arbes, the „terrible beauty“ of the cave lived her last days. Soon, Schwarzenberg‘s quarrymen sank their teeth into the local rocks and they mined so ruthlessly that they

eventually destroyed even the mem-orable cavern itself. And the dark voices of the underground waters vanished somewhere in the depths.

But a few years later, when the famous cave did not exist anymore, the local underground waters again

reminded us of their existence. When a rock was blasted, a few tens of meters from here, a powerful under-

ground spring, the germ of the little lake of Hlubočepy, sprang up. All of this meant that somewhere in the depth between the quarry and the little lake there was a karst system with a res-

ervoir of water and that somewhere here, beneath the bottom of the quarry, in the tangle of hollows and

little chasms, the searched for gate into the inaccessible un-derground might be hiding. And, similarly, the experts say: „From the whole north-eastern part of the Bohemian Karst, perhaps right here un-der the Prokop quarry, there is only one signifi cant key to these large spaces, where man has not entered yet...“ (V. Cílek and others).

And he probably will not get there anytime soon. Hol-lows and little chasms are buried and the path to the underground is probably lost for good. Perhaps it is good.

Let at least in those depths a piece of untouched, undevastated Prokopian nature be preserved. Hopefully, not even developers will get there.

Marie NedvědováWhat is hiding under these hillocks?

That Prokopák is made up of limestone is proven on the surface by, for example, the so-called grikes. The same grikes can be found in the Moravian Karst famous for its caves.

Inns, pubs and restaurantsCall them what you want but in

the consciousness of the old residents of Hlubočepy and

from their narratives there used to be enough of those pubs there, close to one another. When we come to real-ize their location, there were three of them right in the imaginary center of Hlubočepy. And which were they?

At the train crossing there is Besední restaurace with a front gar-den, or they call it U Ritschelů. Up to now, it has a functional dance hall, which was once used, apart from balls, also as a meeting place for lo-cal clubs, used to serve as a gym and in the later years there was a cinema. The restaurant enjoys great atten-dance by guests, both for excellent cuisine, pig-slaughterings and game feasts, as well as for organizing vari-ous entertainment events. Across the street, where there is a fenced empty space now, there used to be a pub „U Kubů“, later „U Janovských“ and at the back behind the pub there was a hall where local amateur actors used to play the theater and puppet shows for children. Also balls were held here. In Slivenecká Street, a few me-ters from the railway crossing, enter-

prising spouses, the Škops, opened a restaurant after 1989, called, of course, U Škopů, which is famous for its excellent cuisine.

In the Hlubočepská Street there is still the building of the former U Zá-

branských restaurant, there is a hall on the upper fl oor and also there balls and dances were held, but once their organizing ceased for static reasons, after the fl oor of the hall set swinging under the dancers. In that building, there used to be an mangle, a hairdressing salon, a grocery store and for the last time there was again

a restaurant on the ground fl oor for a short period of time.

Beneath the train station, near the entrance to the former oxygen plant, or Technoplyn, if you want, there used to be a small pub called „V Šanghaji“

– beer, lemonade. Most of the guests fl owed here during the Prokopská pil-grimage, near the little lake there was a small bridge over the Dalejský po-tok stream and the guests got to the refreshments, and even to the railway station, through a path between fruit trees. The pub does not stand there anymore.

In July, during the Prokopská pil-grimage, stalls and pilgrimage attrac-tions used to be under the rock where the little church of St. Prokop used to stand and thence they stretched all the way to the fi rst railway underpass. In the immediate vicinity on the ele-vated terrain there was the „U Kordů“ inn with a garden under the chestnut

trees, which once used to satisfy also a large number of workers from adja-cent quarries. Even this inn does not stand there anymore.

At the end of reminiscing about the list of pubs, we have no choice but to say that there are only two of them and one refreshment place left here.

Miluše Maršíková

Besední restaurace in the past U Kubů Restaurant

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