10.06.2015
In the northern part of Rapla County, only one route option will continue, running between Kohila and Prillimäe, the Rail Baltic steering committee decided. Kohila municipality is against it, as the route would split their development area.
The Kohila Rural Municipality Council sent a letter to the Rail Baltic Steering Committee stating that it will not change its previous decisions regarding Rail Baltic. One of them ruled out route alternative 12A passing through Kohila township and the other one, route 16A running between Kohila township and Prillimäe township.
However, it was the latter that was preferred by the Rail Baltic Steering Committee in its recent decision. The steering committee, which brings together the county governors of Harju, Rapla and Pärnu and representatives of ministries, based its decision on the proposal of the county governors and the preference offered by the Rail Baltic consultant.
16A is a route that the previous government rejected at a cabinet meeting last November, leaving 16D, which runs further east past Salutagus, on the map in the region.
The previous government relied on the proposal of the previous Rapla County Governor, Tiit Leier. Leier, in turn, relied on the preference of Kohila Rural Municipality.
He reasoned that 16A would hinder the development of an important area for Kohila rural municipality, the so-called Uus-Kohila, and would conflict with the rural municipality's general plan. Detailed plans have been prepared for the area, roads and water mains have been built there, and houses have been built.
In addition to 16D, the government in November left route 13BC, which curves east of the Nabala Nature Reserve, in the selection so that several alternatives could be compared.
Flea market on the tracks
In March, the current governor of Rapla, Tõnis Blank, and the governor of Harju, Ülle Rajasalu, proposed to the Rail Baltic steering committee to remove 13BC from the comparison and bring back 16A. The steering committee has just done this, but also removed Kohila's preference for 16D.
According to Kohila Rural Municipality Mayor Heiki Hepner, the situation is pathetically sad, and not only because the position of Kohila Rural Municipality is being ignored and because the Rapla County Governor supports Harju County's proposals, not Kohila Rural Municipality's positions, in finding solutions.
“It is hilariously sad how all this is being done,” Hepner noted, citing examples from the county governors’ letter and the minutes of the last meeting of the steering committee. First, a proposal is made to exclude route 13BC. Then, in the same letter, it is found that only one alternative remains, 16D, but they would like to compare the two. Therefore, it is necessary to add a new route alternative, 16A. And finally, during the discussion, the conclusion is reached that no matter how we compare the two route alternatives, we will abandon 16D, we will have one. If this is not demagogy and a circus, then what is it?
The Kohila Rural Municipality Council also notes in its letter that there should be several route alternatives in the comparison and that if price is considered the most important factor in building a route, route alternatives numbered 10 should be brought back and route alternative 16E should be added (passing through or encroaching on the Nabala Nature Reserve - ed.).
However, a new obstacle has also appeared in recent months on Kohila's preferred route 16D, which runs along the edge of Salutagus. Namely, the developer of the Salutagus manor area has come forward and announced that he wants to develop the area in the coming years.
"During a meeting with the developers on 15.05.2015, it was confirmed to both the local government representatives and the county planning organizers that in the first stage, it is planned to build production buildings in the project area, which would provide jobs for approximately two hundred top specialists, and in addition, in the second stage, it is planned to build a social and residential function," the minutes of the Rail Baltic Steering Committee describe the plans of the Salutagus developer.
The Steering Committee adopted the aforementioned decision at a meeting held on May 14 and signed the minutes of the meeting on May 3. The signatures were given by Ahti Kuningas, Undersecretary for Transport of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Kaia Sarnet, Undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior, and the governors of the three counties.
Route 16A was initially proposed at the conceptual level by the civic association Avvallikt Rail Balticus.
Source: Raplamaa Messages, 10.06.2015
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