Polska wersja

Rospuda Wetland road in jeopardy as Polish court cancels environmental consent

The Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw today cancelled the environmental consent for the entire 17 kilometre Augustow Bypass in north-east Poland. The decision places the development of the road in serious doubt as it should not be implemented without the due environmental clearance.

This section of the “Via Baltica” expressway has been routed by the Polish Road Agency – the investor – through the Natura 2000 site “Augustow Forest” which includes the unique mires of the Rospuda Valley. The case was referred by the European Commission to the European Court of Justice in March 2007 for infringing the requirements of the EU Habitats Directive.

The Polish Road Agency and responsible authorities have claimed that the project was prepared in line with Polish nature conservation legislation. Today’s decision proved for the third time that they are wrong. In April 2007 the same court cancelled the Minister for Environment’s interim order for the investment. On December 3 another Ministry decision on the investment, issued by the General Nature Conservation Officer, was also cancelled.

Malgorzata Gorska from OTOP, the Polish partner of Birdlife International, commented: “Today’s judgment from the Warsaw Court is a crucial one for the road’s construction as without the valid environmental consent the project should not be implemented. The Rospuda Valley case clearly shows that road promoters can only make trouble for themselves and local communities if they ignore environmental law and view environmental issues as an irritation.”

Polish environment NGOs and the Polish Ombudsman challenged these earlier decisions of the previous Polish government. They have also regularly pointed out both the existence of an alternative route for the bypass outside the Natura 2000 site and the fact that it was not considered by the Polish authorities.

Magda Stoczkiewicz, Policy coordinator for CEE Bankwatch Network, added: “This is fantastic news for Natura 2000 protection but it also means that the Polish authorities need to start urgently reconsidering possible alternative routes for the bypass to solve the long-standing traffic problems affecting the town of Augustow. We look forward to the roundtable for Rospuda that has just been announced by Poland’s new environment minister and we are open for constructive solutions.”

The announcement of the roundtable appeared in an article in Gazeta Wyborcza on December 6. The new environment minister, Maciej Nowicki, wants to hold “a roundtable for Rospuda” that would convene in December and be comprised of experts, NGOs and local authorities to discuss possible solutions for the Augustow bypass and for Rospuda, as Nowicki believes that Poland will ultimately lose the case at the European Court of Justice.

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