The specter of investment paralysis. Only a fraction of municipalities have a chance to prepare general plans in time

Only about 30 percent municipalities have a chance to prepare general plans by July 1, 2026 – said Deputy Minister of Development and Technology Michał Jaros during the meeting of the infrastructure committee on Wednesday. Only in two communes have these documents been adopted and are in force.

On Wednesday, during a meeting of the parliamentary infrastructure committee, the deputy head of development and technology announced that approximately 90 percent. municipalities have started to prepare a general plan, but most of them are at the initial stage of work. He indicated that 39 percent communes are still preparing a public procurement for the selection of an external contractor for the commune's general plan, and the draft of the general plan together with its justification was prepared by 30 percent. local governments.

– Only 2 percent carried out public consultations on the draft general plan. communes, and only in two communes the general plan was adopted – said the deputy minister. He added that the average time taken to complete the plan preparation procedure from the adoption of the resolution to its adoption was between 15 and 20 months in these communes.

– Based on the available data, it is not possible to assess which part of municipalities will adopt a general plan by mid-2026 – he said. – The greatest chances have those local governments that have already completed the analysis of the application and prepared the project, i.e. about 30 percent. – he added.

In his opinion, the deadline to which Mateusz Morawiecki's government committed itself was unrealistic from the beginning.

When asked about the funds from the National Reconstruction Plan, which Poland must use to prepare plans within a specified period, he said that “the ministry is in contact with the European Commission and is looking for new solutions.”

On September 24, 2023, an amendment to the Act of March 27, 2003 on spatial planning and development entered into force, obliging municipalities to prepare general plans. This document will largely replace the existing studies of conditions and directions of spatial development in municipalities, which will expire no later than July 1, 2026. On the same date, the transitional period will end and all amended provisions of the reform of the spatial planning system will enter into force.

After this time, the adoption of local spatial development plans and the issuance of location decisions (determining the location of a public purpose investment and development conditions) will be possible if a general commune plan has entered into force in a given commune.

The government project is intended to enable the issuance of decisions on determining the location of public purpose investments, such as schools, infrastructure, in the period from the date of termination of the study of conditions and directions of spatial development of the commune until the adoption of the general plan of the commune. Therefore, the ban on issuing decisions on determining the location of a public purpose investment in the indicated period has been removed.

The project specifies the legal basis for issuing a decision on determining the location of a public purpose investment after the date of expiry of the study of conditions and directions of spatial development of the commune, and before the date of entry into force of the general plan of the commune.

The draft indicates that the issuance of a decision on development conditions upon an application submitted from July 1, 2026 will be possible if a general commune plan has entered into force in a given commune, and if the application concerns an area located in more than one commune – if general commune plans have come into force in these communes. (PAP)

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