Although the Law on Spatial Planning, adopted by the Parliament on 28 February this year, stipulates that the Spatial Planning Agency of Montenegro be established within 60 days, as well as that companies be established to prepare planning documents for local self-governments, this very important work has not yet been completed. The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property is waiting for the Government to adopt the proposal to establish the Agency, and in most municipalities, for various reasons, appropriate decisions have not yet been made.
How all of this will affect the implementation of, as they say in the department headed by Slaven Radunović, "new policies in the field of spatial planning" remains to be seen, but the fact is that many local governments are facing, above all, personnel problems when forming these local agencies.
According to the law, a company established by a local government assembly to draft local planning documents must employ a responsible planner and at least four other planners. It is specified that the responsible planner can be a spatial planner, or architect, who has at least a VII1 level of educational qualification, at least ten years of work experience in spatial or urban planning, has passed a professional exam and is registered with the Chamber.
Other planners employed in a local business company must have at least a VII1 level of educational qualification and at least five years of work experience in spatial or urban planning, have passed a professional exam and be registered with the Chamber.
The Municipal Assembly of Kolašin is one of the few local governments in which an Agency for Design and Spatial Planning has been established. At the extraordinary session on April 30, in addition to the Decision, the Statute of that limited liability company (LLC) was also adopted.
Kolašin: First task - urban planning project for the city center
As stated in the Decision on Establishment, the Agency's activities include the preparation of local planning documents, informing the public about the preparation of the planning document, as well as participating in the preparation of the Municipality's opinion on urban and technical conditions issued by the competent state administration body... The Agency will participate in the preparation of the Municipal Spatial Planning Program, prepare technical documentation, and perform expert supervision over the execution of works financed from the Municipality's funds, as well as from other sources of financing. It is also planned to carry out a review of technical documentation and prepare a report on the state of spatial planning. The company will be managed by an executive director and a Board of Directors, as specified in the draft decision.
The opposition benches suggested several times during the session that great attention must be paid to the selection of personnel who will work in the Agency, as well as the composition of the Board of Directors (BoD) of that company. The parliamentary majority, however, did not accept the amendment of the president of the club of councilors of the opposition Movement "Together We Build Kolašin", Matija Bulatović, to specify in the Decision that the Board of Directors, among other things, must include a graduate architectural engineer, one expert in the field of environmental protection and one expert in the field of spatial planning.
Municipal President Petko Bakić promised the councilors public participation and professional work in the future planning of Kolašin. The Kolašin Agency will have a huge job ahead of it, as it is about to adopt several detailed urban plans (DUP), primarily those relating to the center, Breza and Smailagića Polje.
However, as was said at the local parliament session, the first order of business will probably be the urban planning project (UP) for the city center. Namely, on the same day that the Agency was established, the local parliament unanimously adopted the Decision on the repeal of the DUP Centar in part of the boundaries of the Urban Planning Project (UP) “Central City Center”.
As stated, there were several reasons for the decision to be adopted "as an urgent procedure". Bakić explained that the essence of the decision is to invalidate part of the DUP, in the part of the proposed border of the UP and, accordingly, prohibit the issuance of urban and technical conditions (UTU) for locations in that zone, as well as all potential legal actions related to obtaining approval and documentation for construction. The ban, he claims, will only not apply to infrastructure facilities and facilities of general interest.
He also reminded that the guidelines of the current DUP “Center - Central City Core” are not in line with the higher-level plan (Spatial Urban Plan). Bakić said that the Decision was also proposed in view of the “increasing number of requests for issuing UTU for locations within the boundaries of the proposed UP”. He also announced the rapid development of the UP “Central City Core of Kolašin”. This, he explained, will reduce the pressure of construction in the city core itself and improve the quality of space, and therefore the quality of life of the local population. UP, announced by the executive authorities, should define the conditions for design, including the type of building, facades, bay windows, balconies, doors and windows, use of materials, roof elements...
Joint agency for Nikšić, Žabljak and Plužine
The Nikšić Agency for Planning and Design has existed since 2006. Initially, it was the Planning Directorate, and since last year it has been operating as a limited liability company.
Until 2017, as the Agency told "Vijesti", they were engaged in architectural activities, project documentation and supervision, both for the Municipality of Nikšić and other municipalities. They stopped doing this work in 2017, when planning at the municipal level was abolished and the work was taken over by the competent ministry.
The existing Agency, as they explained to "Vijesti", will adapt its acts to the new law and will become regional, because the law provides for the establishment of regional agencies, if municipalities are unable to establish their own, and will deal with urban planning not only for the Municipality of Nikšić, but most likely also for the municipalities of Žabljak and Plužine.
As the new Law was passed in April, local elections were held in Nikšić on April 13, and the new Assembly, which must be formed within 60 days of the official election results, has not yet been constituted, the new transformation of the Agency must wait until the verification of councilor mandates.
At the first upcoming session of the local parliament in Bijelo Polje, scheduled for May 13th, among other items on the agenda will be a decision on the formation of the Agency for Design and Spatial Planning.
The Municipality informed Vijesti that the Agency's first tasks will be aligned with the legal obligations and regulations for which it was established.
The Municipality of Bar has already started drafting the Decision on the establishment of a company for the preparation of local planning documents, in accordance with the Law on Spatial Planning, and the establishment of the Bar Institute for Spatial Planning will probably be discussed at the next session of the Bar Municipal Assembly, which should be scheduled by the end of this month.
This was unofficially told to "Vijesti" by the Municipality of Bar, and its head, Dušan Raičević, is supposed to propose it at the municipal president's collegium next Monday.
"The efficient functioning of this company will require active cooperation with state and local government bodies whose activities are related to cadastre, traffic, spatial planning, urbanism and construction of facilities, as well as public enterprises and companies that manage communal infrastructure systems."
The Bar Municipal Assembly has budgeted 30.000 euros for the new municipal enterprise, the Spatial Planning Institute, in this year's budget, "Vijesti" wrote in March this year.
Pljevlja lacks human resources capacity
The Municipality of Pljevlja does not have the human resources capacity to form an Agency for Design and Spatial Planning on its own.
This was told to Vijesti by the Secretary of the Secretariat for Spatial Planning, Dragan Šubarić.
He said that they are talking with other Montenegrin municipalities to jointly form the Agency.
"There are no people who could do these jobs. We are trying to reach an agreement with some municipalities to form an Agency together," said Šubarić, without specifying which municipalities they are negotiating with.
He said that the law allows two or more municipalities to join forces and form an Agency for Spatial Design and Planning.
The Municipality of Ulcinj has not yet formed a company for the preparation of planning documents.
"We are currently in the phase of analyzing the necessary human resources and drafting the Decision on Establishment. In this context, we are considering several options, including the possibility of mutual cooperation with other municipalities, with the aim of jointly forming an expert body or a business company that would perform these tasks," said Škeljzen Sulejmani, Secretary of the Municipality of Ulcinj, emphasizing that they are also analyzing the possibility of transforming the existing Agency for Construction and Development, in order to expand its mandate and capacities to include the preparation of planning documents.
These activities, Sulejmani adds, are in line with our efforts to ensure more efficient spatial planning and improve the institutional capacities of the Municipality.
In Tivat, according to Željko Komnenović, the president of this Municipality, the Agency for Design and Spatial Planning has not been, nor will it be formed. The local government's decision is that due to the lack of adequate staff and more efficient procedures, a joint Agency of the municipalities of Tivat, Kotor and Herceg Novi should be formed and this will be done as soon as possible, primarily due to the fact that Herceg Novi is the only one that already has such an Agency with adequate staff and experience.
In Budva, the priority is the urban planning project "Old Town".
As it has been pushing for decentralization in the recent period, the authorities in the Budva municipality will soon independently form a business company to perform professional work primarily in the field of spatial planning, but also design for the needs of the Budva Municipality and third parties. This was told to Vijesti by the Mayor of the Budva Municipality, Nikola Jovanović.
The amendment to the Law, he added, has enabled spatial planning to be returned to local governments, which is a logical sequence of events, because the actual users of a space are the best experts on its needs and possibilities.
"In the previous period, the state adopted a very small number of planning documents, which had a negative impact on the area. The newly formed "Agency for Planning, Design and Development of the Municipality of Budva" will create the opportunity to prioritize the Urban Planning Project "Old Town", then the plan for the administrative center of Budva, the revision of valid planning documentation, and rehabilitation plans," said Jovanović.
He points out that, in addition to preparing planning documents, the Agency will be able to prepare technical documentation for the construction, reconstruction and legalization of facilities financed from municipal funds, as well as other sources of financing, and will conduct audits, supervision and technical inspections according to applicable regulations on the construction of facilities.
"The agency enables the Municipality of Budva to directly manage the work of the company, which results in faster decision-making and better alignment with local development plans. Dependence on external contractors is reduced, thus avoiding possible problems with delays and quality of work. The agency will more consistently implement the city's development strategy because processing data from the field and constant monitoring of the situation in the area enables a better understanding of local needs and priorities," stressed Jovanović.
It is expected, as he pointed out, that the Agency will offer competitive conditions, employment stability and the opportunity for professional development, which will be attractive to qualified engineers, architects, urban planners and supervisory authorities.
"Special emphasis will be placed on hiring personnel with experience in working on public interest projects and infrastructure systems. The Agency will build partnerships with civil engineering and technical faculties in Montenegro and the region, in order to identify and attract young talents through internships and internship programs, all in accordance with the Budva Municipality Development Strategy. Priority will be given to professional personnel from Budva and the surrounding area, with the aim of strengthening local capacities and enabling local professionals to stay and work in Budva."
"With this approach, the Agency will be able to provide a stable team of experts who will reliably implement plans and projects of importance to the Municipality of Budva," concluded Jovanović.
Ministry: New policy in the field of spatial planning
The Law on Spatial Planning is a systemic regulation that provides a normative framework for redefinition, or for a new policy in the field of spatial planning, the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property told Vijesti, emphasizing that the redefinition of the policy primarily relates to the subject of the development of planning documents.
"Planning documents can be prepared by the state, or local self-government units, through companies that they establish themselves. It is also envisaged that two or more local self-government units can establish a company for the preparation of planning documents," the Ministry points out, reminding that
The law also stipulates that a company for the preparation of planning documents will be established within 60 days from the date of entry into force of this law.
"In this regard, the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property has prepared a Proposal for a Decision on the Establishment of the Spatial Planning Agency of Montenegro and submitted it to the Government of Montenegro for adoption. The aforementioned Proposal will be considered at the next Government session," the ministry emphasizes.
In order to implement legal solutions as fully as possible, the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, in cooperation with the Union of Municipalities, organized a workshop in early April, at which issues of importance to the topic of spatial planning were discussed, including issues related to the establishment of a business company for the preparation of planning documents.
Also, written responses to issues of common interest were sent through the Union of Municipalities.
"In some local governments, there are already local entities that could deal with the development of planning documents, but appropriate decisions need to be made at the municipal assembly level, and activities are underway to establish joint companies for several local governments," the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property points out.
The Ministry previously addressed the presidents of all municipalities with a letter stating that it was necessary for them, from the position of the executive body of the local self-government unit, to ensure that the prescribed legal obligations regarding the establishment of a business company for the preparation of planning documents are respected.
The Law on Spatial Planning also provides for transitional solutions until the start of activities by the company, so that continuity in the performance of activities is ensured, according to the department headed by Slaven Radunović.
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