Balaton towns rush to revamp shoreline to meet rules

The law, which came into effect in 2000, calls for local municipalities to adjust their area development plans to the revised shoreline of the lake, which was finalized by the Central Transdanubian Environmental and Water Authority after one year of delay at the end of March.
“We do not want any more delay in adopting the new development plans. Uncertainty about the status of certain areas might drive away possible investors and create unnecessary tension among residents,” said Barnabás Fekete, mayor of Balatonvilágos, a village on the southern shore of Lake Balaton.
Based on the new shoreline, Váti Kht, the regional development and urban planning agency, will have to create a rehabilitation plan for the lakeshore areas by the end of July, which in turn should be reflected in the municipalities’ local development plans.
Using Váti’s preliminary documents, adjustment of the local area development plans started in 42 lakeside towns and villages on Monday.
According to Annamária Gerzanics, the official responsible for the issue at the Prime Minister’s Office (MeH), while the adjustment process is expected to go smoothly in most places, there will be some exceptions, such as in Balatonvilágos and Balatonfôkajár.
“The municipality of Balatonvilágos is facing difficulties in creating a continuous stretch of promenade in line with the Balaton Law, which says that the promenade must be created on a minimum 30% of the total shore area belonging to a community,” Gerzanics said.
Balatonvilágos traditionally has many waterfront villas. The municipality now faces the task of taking away land, and consequently waterfront status, from villa owners, a move the local authority is desperate to avoid, Fekete explained.
“Such a scheme would create a big conflict within the community,” he said.
Another problem he mentioned is a lack of funds to compensate owners.
According to Gerzanics, the municipality is aiming to create the promenade at the cost of the land of a state-owned resort area named Club Aliga.
“As far as I know, the state is ready to offer some part of the area for creating the promenade, but not the whole,” she said.
As for compensation costs, Gerzanics said that Váti will calculate the total budget for the law’s implementation after all the plans have been finalized. The compensation costs will be part of this budget, she added.

Civil conversation

Repeated attacks on the Balaton Law from various civil organizations have made the execution process difficult, Gerzanics said.
“Every other week I get a call from an organization threatening to appeal against the Balaton Law,” she said.
The latest such attack was made last month by the Civil Association for Lake Balaton.
In a written statement the association forwarded to the press, it claimed that the Balaton Law is unconstitutional. According to the statement, the new shoreline the water authority determined was based on a status quo the Constitutional Court earlier declared unconstitutional.
“We will take the issue to Brussels, to see what the European Court has to say in the matter,” the statement said.
Gerzanics declined to comment specifically on the issue, saying that she will deliver an opinion only if officially asked by the relevant authorities.
“I don’t wish to deal with the issue unless I’m officially asked to do so,” she said. “My personal advice to the association is that they should buy a ticket to Luxembourg instead of Brussels, because the European Court operates there.”


by Judit Zegnál

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