I. Metshin: “Cars are parking on lawns and playgrounds unpunished, destroying our labors”

(KZN.RU, March 3, Renat Shirmanov). Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, raised several critical issues, related to urban environment improvement, today at a meeting of the District Advisory Council on the Local Government Development, which took place in Ufa.

The meeting of the Council was held in the Congress Hall of the capital of Bashkortostan, chaired by Mikhail Babich, the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the RF in the Volga Federal District. Rustem Khamitov, the head of the Republic of Bashkortostan, heads of the Volga Federal District and municipalities took part in the work of the council.

“It is important to get feedback and soak up the views on which practices there are and could be implemented on a larger scale. Our meetings help identify pressure points, on which we should pay special attention”, said Mikhail Babich, opening the meeting.

The urbanization and the creation of an enabling environment for modern life have been considered among the top at the meeting. Mikhail Babich recalled that several major projects have been implemented and the relevant legislative initiatives are formed on the basis of past meetings. He called the repair program of yards one of the most important programs in the country.

Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, addressed on behalf of the Association of the Volga region cities as its chairman. He spoke about the best practices of cities in the region, as well as problems that concern municipalities in the area of improvement.

“The level of livability largely shapes the quality and comfort of citizens’ life. The extensive range of powers in the area of improvement is assigned to the municipalities, but not all of them are backed by revenue sources. We do not have enough money for the maintenance of the storm water drain, marking and cleaning of roads, maintenance of outdoor lighting and green spaces. There is a similar situation in all municipalities. Part of the funds allocated in Kazan through national programs. However this is not enough for the normative content of urban spaces”, said Ilsur Metshin.

According to the Mayor of Kazan, the work on improvement of the system can be built even in the face of limited funding. The Mayor gave the example of the fact that the capital of Tatarstan, despite all the difficulties, was able to rise by 38 places in the environmental rating: from 45th to 7th.

“The experience shows that the implementation of most of the programs in the field of improvement is possible only with the close cooperation of local governments with public authorities at all levels, with the business community, and most importantly with the population. Projects, which clearly show the effect of this interaction, implemented in Kazan with the active support of Rustam Minnikhanov, the President of the Republic, representatives of business and citizens”, marked Ilsur Metshin.

The Mayor brought projects “Green Record” and “Blooming Kazan” as examples. “Through these projects, 150 thousand trees, 66 thousand shrubs, and 6.5 million flowers were planted in Kazan on the area of 49 thousand square meters: it is 7 football fields. More than the half a million square meters of a lawn was laid”, said the Mayor of Kazan.

Another major project, implemented in the territory of the Tatarstan’s capital, is the project “Parks and squares”, thanks to which 52 recreation areas were completely renovated over the past 4 years in Kazan, and their attendance has grown by 10 times. Ilsur Metshin marked that design decisions are made only after discussion and presenting at a public hearing.

The head of Kazan paid particular attention to the fact that it is necessary to solve the problems, associated with the implementation of improvement programs to municipalities, the main of which is a car parking in the green zones. “Work on the landscaping refers to one of the areas of the city economy, which is in an ever-changing legislation, and these changes are often a major cause of strife and misunderstandings of the population. As the Mayor of Kazan and the chairman of the Association of the Volga District cities, I sent to Mikhail Men’, the Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation, the statement of an indication of the existing problems in the field of legal regulation of the Rules of municipalities landscaping. The essence of the statement is that at present the Ministry has drafted guidelines for the preparation of the rules of landscaping. We, like other cities, use these guidelines when developing our Rules of the landscaping. However many of the provisions of the Rules of municipalities landscaping are widely recognized not relevant to the current legislation by the decisions of the courts, including the Supreme Court of Russia”, said Ilsur Metshin.

The Mayor of Kazan said that the Rules of landscaping of the Tatarstan’s capital have the penalty for parking, storage and movement of vehicles on the playground and green spaces, but by the decisions of the Supreme Court of the RT, this rule is recognized as the contrary to the federal law.

“We have developed this work. 28.5 thousand protocols were made, including with the use of auto-fixation of violations. 70 million rubles of fines were imposed. But the courts say we don’t have the right. At the same time, those who have the right, according to the courts, don’t do anything. Cars are parking on the lawns and playgrounds unpunished, destroying our labors. We have repeatedly discussed these issues in the cities of the Volga Association and will continue to jointly seek solutions to the existing problems. We further generalize our comments and suggestions and send them with hope for effective solution”, said Ilsur Metshin.

Mikhail Babich instructed to finalize all the proposals by mid-March, together with the experts of housing and communal services and lawyers, after which a further extension of the initiatives will be considered.

According to the Mayor of Tatarstan's capital, another acute problem of municipalities is solving issues of improvement of settlements, included in the city limits. “The lack of sidewalks and lighting, broken roads, unauthorized landfills cause the greatest number of questions. The existing waste disposal sites are mostly not equipped with containers and access roads. We are trying to address these issues, but they don’t have adequate financial support. To address these issues at the initiative of Rustam Minnikhanov, the President of Tatarstan, subsidies are provided to support the territorial self-government, the best of which will receive grants”, said Ilsur Metshin.

During his speech, Ilsur Metshin also raised the issue of licensing the Homeowner association and the Building cooperative, as they carry out housing maintenance activities and are controlled solely by their founders, as well as the reconstruction of utilities and other engineering systems.

The meeting of the District Advisory Council for the development of local self-government in Ufa was devoted to the activities of local authorities for cooperation with civil society institutions and the public in solving local issues.