Valtice Residents Protest Parking Lot Just Five Metres from Bedroom Windows

A dispute has broken out in Valtice, part of the popular Lednice-Valtice Complex, between the town hall and residents of four houses on Mikulovská Street. Authorities decided to expand and renovate an existing car park in the town centre, but residents managed to get construction work suspended through the regional building authority.

According to Mayor Aleš Hofman, cars had already been parking informally in the area: 15 spaces were made paid, while around seven were used by residents of neighbouring houses. The town hall commissioned a project called "Construction Improvement of Public Space" to renovate and expand the lot.

Residents Found Flaws in the Project

However, local residents say the project documentation was missing key assessments — an environmental impact assessment, an acoustic study, a rainwater absorption calculation, and an oil separator. Opposition councillor Pavel Trojan also pointed out the absence of a light impact assessment and lighting design, noting contradictions in official statements.

Lukáš Sziládi, a technical specialist in utility networks, said that once earthworks began, it became clear the actual work diverged from the version of the project residents had previously seen. According to him, the parking lot is designed so that cars will end up almost right next to the windows of the houses. "When I'm lying in bed, cars will be parking about five metres from my head — and that's including the thickness of the wall," he stressed.

Sziládi clarified that residents are not trying to block the town's development and had offered constructive solutions from the very start — for example, changing the slope of the parking lot so water wouldn't run toward the houses, and adding protective greenery. Their main demand is that construction proceed legally, safely, and with consideration for the people living nearby.

Regional Authority Halted Construction

In early May, residents petitioned the Břeclav building authority to inspect the construction site, arguing that the work did not match the version of the project they had been shown and had agreed to. The town hall rejected the request to suspend construction, after which residents turned to the regional building authority — which ordered the work stopped.

According to Martina Žídková, spokesperson for the regional authority in Brno, the inspection was triggered by doubts over which version of the project documentation the authorities had actually approved, and whether it had been altered during the process. The petitioners also claim the building authority formally referenced conditions set by utility network owners without specifying them properly, and overlooked some requirements from the road inspectorate. Žídková stressed that the mere fact an inspection has been launched does not mean the original decision was unlawful.

Until the proceedings are concluded, the town must mothball the construction site. "We're waiting for permission from the Břeclav building authority to secure the site against damage. This could take six months, a year, or even two — no one really knows," said Mayor Hofman. He noted the situation is doubly frustrating, since paving stones were due to be laid just last week, and the work had originally been expected to finish by the end of August — right in the middle of the tourist season.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz