Although the Kolašin Agency for Design and Spatial Planning was established as a local company, most of the company's professional staff will not be located in Kolašin, because planners and other experts who will work on the development of local planning documents will be located in offices in Podgorica.
This was confirmed by the Vice President of the Municipality to "Vijesti". Vasilije Ivanovic.
According to him, the reason for this solution is "the lack of personnel of that type, not only in Kolašin, but throughout Montenegro."
According to him, there will be a director and part of the technical staff in Kolašin. The law stipulates that such a company must employ a responsible planner and at least four other planners. The responsible planner must be a spatial planner or architect with a VII1 qualification level, at least ten years of experience, a passed professional exam and entry in the Chamber's register. Other planners must have at least five years of experience, a professional exam and appropriate qualifications.
"It is true that there is a possibility that some of the employees will be stationed in Podgorica. This is the result of a staff deficit, not only at the local, but also at the state level, when it comes to this profession. We are forced to have some of the employees in Podgorica. Of course, the final word on each planning document will be given by the executive director of the Agency, who will be located in Kolašin. Unfortunately, there are a small number of planners in Montenegro, so they would not agree to live and work in Kolašin. Therefore, this is the only chance for them to be in Podgorica, while the executive director will be in Kolašin," says the vice president of the Municipality.
He could not answer the question of "Vijesti" about how many employees the Agency will have. However, he says that the cost of the offices in the capital will not be too much of a burden on the local budget. When it comes to finding the most favorable solution for the offices, he expects understanding from state institutions.
"The agency is in the process of being formed, so I cannot speak precisely about the exact number of employees. I would not even specify now how we will solve the problem of space in Podgorica. I am sure that we will have understanding from state institutions when it comes to leasing or using it, and allocations for that purpose will not be burdensome for the municipal budget," claims the vice president.
Ivanovic reminds that Kolašin is the first municipality to form the Agency, and that, although the Law allows for several municipalities to jointly establish a single company for the development of local plans, they have chosen to be independent. This, according to the Vice President, is a good move, as is the fact that spatial planning is decentralized under the new law.
"Kolašin is the first municipality to establish a Spatial Planning Agency, according to the guidelines of the new law. We believe that this is the first time that we are returning control of the development of planning documents under the auspices of local government, and it is one of the better moves. Establishing an independent agency is a good move, because if we had not done this, we would have had to join other municipalities, and we certainly would not have been able to properly take care of our space, as when we have an agency under our auspices," he says.
The Kolašin Agency for Design and Spatial Planning was established at the end of April, at an extraordinary session of the Kolašin Municipal Assembly (MA). The councilors then adopted the Statute of the newly formed company, thus fulfilling the legal obligations defined by the new Law on Spatial Planning.
In accordance with this law, local planning documents will in future be prepared by companies founded by local self-government assemblies. The audit of local plans will be carried out by a company established by the Government, while the audit of state planning documents will be entrusted to the Audit Commission. The Agency will deal with the preparation of local planning documents, the involvement of the public in the planning process, as well as the preparation of the Municipality's opinion on urban-technical conditions issued by a state authority.
The Agency's activities include the development of the Municipal Spatial Planning Program, technical documentation, expert supervision of works financed from the municipal budget and other sources, revision of technical documentation and preparation of reports on the state of spatial planning. This company will be managed by an executive director and a Board of Directors, as provided for in the founding documents.
The Kolašin Agency has a lot of work ahead of it, it is necessary to prepare more detailed urban plans, especially for the areas of the city center, Breza and Smailagića Polje. The existing DUP Centar was adopted more than 15 years ago, and its interpretations and adjustments have led to numerous controversies regarding excessive construction and increasing the number of floors and dimensions of buildings in the city zone. Last week, the government made a decision to discontinue the process of drafting amendments to the DUP Centar and Smailagića Polje, which, according to the previous law, was the job of the relevant ministry.
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