Warsaw. For several years they have not been able to build a gazebo from the civic budget because one signature was missing

The residents chose the gazebo with a toilet, kitchen and viewing terrace in 2019 as part of the participatory budget. The structure cannot be built for several years because one document was not signed before the voting began. This, in turn, led to a sharp conflict between the office and the designer.

According to the principles of participatory budgeting, winning projects must be created no later than the following year after the announcement of the voting results. The idea for a gazebo was submitted by one of the residents, who titled her project “No! – for smog – a solar gazebo in every park in Warsaw!”.

A “cafe” where you don't have to buy anything

The description shows that the two-story gazebo will function as an “intimate space for parents and children.” Inside there is a toilet with a changing table, a kitchen, a children's corner, a place for feeding babies and an observation deck. “A cafe where you don't have to buy anything,” we read in the description.

According to the author's concept, the facility is to be “publicly accessible, located directly outdoors – in a recreational area, walking area, close to a playground or beach.”

Due to solar panels and a heat storage system, the building would be heated with solar energy all year round. The use of mechanical ventilation with filtration of the supplied air is intended to protect against smog.

The application indicated one of the parks in Śródmieście or Praga Południe as the construction site, but it was noted that “based on conclusions from the operation of the prototype building, it could be (arbor – ed.) a repeatable project, intended for adaptation in other locations in the city, such as : Pole Mokotowskie, Żeromskiego Park, Skaryszewski Park, Bielański Forest or Kabacki Forest.

The project should not be put to a vote

This is the fifth year that the project has been in the planning phase. What is the problem? As we agreed at the town hall, the application for the participatory budget was submitted by one of the residents, but the concept with the visualization of the gazebo itself belongs to another person.

“Despite the originator's assurances that there would be no problem with concluding an agreement on the transfer of copyright to the work (design of the gazebo concept – ed.) in order to implement the civic budget task on its basis, the author (of the concept – ed.) consistently did not consent to it” – informs the town hall press office.

According to information provided by officials, the author “set a condition of payment, which is inconsistent with the idea of ​​a participatory budget”, and demanded “the obligation to consult the functional and utility program, design documentation and other necessary issues related to construction”.

Officials admit that an error was made at the project submission stage, the consequences of which prevent the project from being implemented. “When assessing the project for the participatory budget (…), the issue of concluding an agreement on the use of the work was not taken into account. Agreement on the transfer of copyrights should be concluded before the project evaluation process is completed and it is allowed for voting for city residents. Otherwise, the draft participatory budget should not be allowed to vote. – wrote in response to our questions.

Dispute in the Supreme Court of Appeal, Supreme Administrative Court, report to the police

The author of the architectural concept accused the mayor of Warsaw of “inaction and lengthy proceedings” several times, complaining about the city hall's actions to the Local Government Appeals Court. According to information provided by Warsaw officials, in two decisions the SKO stated that the allegations were groundless and the complaint groundless.

In November, the dispute over the solar gazebo came before the Supreme Administrative Court. Representatives of the Local Government Appeals Court asked the Supreme Administrative Court whether another complaint from the author of the gazebo, this time submitted in the form of a “reminder”, should be considered by the SKO or the Warsaw Council? The panel of judges rejected the application because “the applicant did not precisely formulate the subject of the dispute (did not specify a specific case) in which a negative or positive dispute could have occurred between the authorities.”

In turn, in April, the police refused to initiate proceedings in connection with the notification of a crime by the director of the Air Protection and Climate Policy Office to the author of the concept.

Too late to abandon the project

The resident who submitted the project to the participatory budget submitted an application to withdraw the project in February 2023, due to the ongoing dispute between the office and the author of the concept. And here another weakness of the civic budget emerged, because such a move turned out to be impossible.

“This is not possible and the project must be implemented, which results from the Act on municipal self-government,” city officials convince us. And they refer to the office's legal opinion, which states that “the construction of a gazebo can be carried out, but in a way that will not violate any copyrights.”

The town hall found a solution. The gazebo is to be built, but “without the use of visualizations and preview boards created by the author of the original concept”, but the investment completion date is unknown.