The municipality of Rezekne is developing a new spatial plan

The development of the Rēzekne municipality spatial plan, which has been commenced after a decision taken at the meeting of the Rēzekne District Council on 21 March 2019. The second version of the document is now transferred to public consultation by 1 July 2020.
The Rēzekne District Planning is a long-term planning document developed in accordance with the local government's sustainable development strategy and taking into account other spatial development planning documents of the national, regional and local level. It defines functional zoning, public infrastructure, regulated territory use and building regulations as well as other conditions and restrictions of the use of the territory, balancing the interests of persons and society with the possibilities of sustainable development of the territory.
Since 2015, all levels of Latvia's development planning documents, including spatial plans, are to be developed in the spatial development planning information system (TAPIS). As a result of the development of the system, the community - residents and merchants - have acquired the opportunity to Latvija.lv and receive the necessary geospatial information regarding spatial planning in the portal and in the portal GeoLatvija. lv with the help of interactive maps and various spatial development planning documents. But the main advantage is that all local government spatial plans are developed according to uniform requirements.
Spatial plan - binding for all
During the development of the spatial plan, extensive work on the updating of cartographic material took place. According to the existing regulatory framework, only the rules for the use and building of the territory are developed, where the requirements for the use of the territory in each functional zone are laid down, the parameters of the building, as well as other restrictions and conditions, taking into account the specificities and specificities of the territory. It is precisely these parts of the Rēzekne municipality that will become binding regulations after its approval in the Rēzekne Council. This means that the rules laid down in the plan will be binding on both natural and legal persons who possess properties and who operate in the territory of Rezekne District.
During the design of the plan, natural and legal persons had the opportunity to adjust their functional zoning as well as make proposals for specific zoning conditions. In total, 100 submissions from natural and legal persons have been received, the plan was drawn up in the light of the conditions of the institutions, as defined by the laws and regulations and principles of good administration. The Planning Task Force, when assessing applications and conditions, had to respect the principles of spatial development planning and to take into account the interests of different persons as far as possible, without infringing the above principles and respecting existing legislation.
 New villages in Rezekne
Similarly, when assessing the existing situation, an important decision was taken: to determine the village borders for existing densely populated areas in Rezekne municipality, while applying the most favourable building parameters to the population:
• The village status will be determined for the cooperatives of the summer cooperatives.
based on the submissions of the population, the village of Graiskanani will be established.
• When exploring a dense building, a village will be created for the first time, which will combine the densely populated area of Denmark, as well as a small part of the areas of Jupatovka, Litavnik and Smouskova.
as well as exploring the development of the population structure, a new village will be created for young Chachi, which will combine Chacha as well as part of the areas of Wiping and Poceluyevka.
Improved conditions for the development of business environment in the municipality
In the planning process, in accordance with the general classifier of the use of spatial planning, utilisation and building regulations, it is concluded that the construction of the heavy industrial and primary processing companies is not split into separate classification code. Consequently, the indexation of the industrial building zone practised in the previous plan was lost in the areas of Rezekne Special Economic Zone (RSEZ), which directly divided the heavy and pre-processing industry. This indexation prevented the full development of companies operating in the industrial building area, as shown by several submissions from existing and potential factories, which have been received in the municipality.
In view of the Rēzekne municipality and the joint business promotion tool of Rezekne City - Rezekne Special Economic Zone, it was important to create uniform rules with the city of Rezekne in order to avoid bureaucratic obstacles to local and foreign investors.
During the previous planned operation, it was found that only 223 hectares, which are a small part of the industrial areas of Rezekne, were permitted by heavy industry. In the new plan, the entire industrial area, which is 1004 ha, will be able to operate for example metalworking and mechanical engineering, rubber industries, leather, wood processing or building materials, which is classified as a heavy production in the current legislation.
By establishing clear conditions that operate throughout the industrial building area, the local government gains advantages in attracting investors and creating jobs, contributes to the positive impact of both the Rezekne Special Economic Zone and Latgale Special Economic Zone on the business environment in the municipality, allowing entrepreneurs to fully utilise existing production facilities
The benefits of improvements in the industrial area will be not only entrepreneurs but also citizens - the more active businesses are in the Rēzekne municipality, the more different types of qualifications they will need, and the more competitive the remuneration will be.
Rezekne District Municipalities
Head of the Development Planning Unit Anna Jaudzema