The largest project in the post-November history of Letňany celebrated its first birthday. Quiet, unobtrusive, no party. How will it happen to him is a big question. Will the money be in the budget? Will subsidies be used? Will there be someone capable who will continue the project? Who knows … Lentils stand, children play on them, trees grow, perennials bloom and the old normalization settlement has been given a modern look and a completely new name.
Update 24/9/2015: I apologize to all Latin experts. Perhaps I did not offend them much by intentional mistake in the name. I acknowledge that this form of marketing is not entirely fair 😉 For the greatest Letňany connoisseurs of the dead language, I add: Quod tibi fieri non vis, alteri ne feceris.
The discussion about Lentilek was huge. No project has ever been solved in Letňany as publicly as Lentilky. Presentations for hundreds of people, their own website, dozens of personal meetings … all contributed to the final version of the project, in which almost every resident of the housing estate participated. Those who were interested and eagerly discussed, expressed, commented on, and suggested changes. Most of the project was created according to the people who live in the housing estate. Kuželovka, Ivančická, Místecká are streets whose new appearance has been chosen by their inhabitants themselves. Voting, polls, official meetings with representatives of SVJ were the basis for creating the project of the biggest Letňany change. And which other commission published its minutes regularly?
Lentils had their opponents. It must be acknowledged that some of them were so loud that it almost looked as if the whole housing estate was against this positive change. The enemies of the spotted project were very tenacious. If they failed to succeed with the opposition website, they tried the petition. When the petition was not issued, they sued Brussels for subsidies. And when they didn’t succeed there either, they began to physically attack the Lentils. Unfortunately, the destroyed lawn in Ivančická this spring is proof that even human stupidity can escalate into aggression. What’s next? Pierced rubber? Physical assault? Will you destroy all the trees with chemicals? All right, but you’re mainly destroying your environment.
I do not believe that the two loud ladies from Místecká would be able to do something like that. The two set criticism of Lentilek as the highest goal for the rest of their lives, but to destroy new lawns? It doesn’t even bother me that it was someone from the Healthy Lentil Opposition. And not at all, now that its representatives are sitting in the council. It also sounds nonsense to you that it was the barely graduated lawyer who can only be aggressive behind the computer, but is afraid to address you in front of the house? Let each of them reach for their own conscience, but in March someone poured harmful chemistry on the lawn in Ivančice. That’s just a fact.
I have always had a weakness for people who have never created anything, but can criticize perfectly. A typical example is a lifelong health and safety inspector from Místecká Street. Do you also like those who come to your workplace, are smarter than the radio and see mistakes in everything? And when such an “expert” becomes a green professional overnight, there is no shortage of fun. It’s just a nice idea to spend hours and hours constantly explaining that geotextiles are a matter of the last century, and everyone who knows how to do so will never decompose in the soil and is extremely harmful to any shrubs or flowers.
In the past, geotextiles were a popular weed control measure. Today, expert studies are being written about how it is devastating the land. The world is evolving. In the movies of the 70’s, smoking is common. Today, smokers’ restrictions are on the verge of personal freedom. Unfortunately, many of the most vocal residents of the housing estate have frozen in the last century, and modern approaches to solving public greenery remain completely unattainable for them.
Letňany is full of people who really understand greenery and are willing to understand that old unpromising trees behind the zenith can make room for new ones. Next to them, we have a few others who understand less than elementary school students. Deficits in Lentika greenery are gradually being addressed. Trees and shrubs are gradually developing and the summer has shown that even the great heat of greenery will survive if they take good care of it.
I heard a few times that there was trampled grass around the lentils. Yes, it is and it is a clear proof that children really like smarties. Finally, our housing estate is a modern place to live and parents do not have to be afraid to let the children out alone. Every day, the playgrounds are full of little ones and adolescents who spend hours and hours on them instead of sitting at home with a tablet. Their foot sometimes rests on the surrounding grass, and that’s just the way it is and will be. We try to gradually renew the grass, however, the environment of the housing estate is not a golf course and the trampled areas will be with us forever. Come to terms with it and enjoy the nice weather rather than sitting at a computer at home and getting upset about things that our children’s future does not depend on.
An old saying goes: You will never be indebted to all people. I fully understand this. Satisfying the needs of young people, pensioners, children, drivers, mothers, teenagers and everyone else is a superhuman act. I never expected 100% of my neighbors to accept Lentils positively.
It is probably in us Czechs that we can best criticize and slander the creations of others and we praise them until the grave. It is good that the Lentils have their critics, because constructive dissenting opinions significantly increase the quality of each project. Unfortunately, in our housing estate, only a few people can reasonably express the opposite opinion. Colleagues from SVJ in Místecká 567-9, some colleagues from Malkovský, almost the whole Kuželovka and many other representatives of SVJ showed their reason, insight and willingness to compromise when Lentilky were built.
However, there were also those who could only point out the mistakes, shortcomings and imperfections in such a complex project. For example, the constant discussion about gravel in Ivančická or the narrowing of the sidewalk in Místecká and Malkovský are clear evidence of the rebuke of the dissatisfied ego of the representatives of these houses.
Even in our housing estate, people still live dissatisfied with their lives, work positions or marital status. Each of us remembers from childhood those who did not belong to any party, when calculating in gym classes, they always ended up at the end of the line and in the queue for lunch, everyone overtook them. Today, they lack precisely that insight and a reasonable approach to compromise.
The mottled facades of our houses are a separate chapter. Rarely did it happen that the SVJ representatives agreed and had the whole house look uniform. Negotiations in the style of “I am the chairman of the barracks and who is more …” are quite common in our housing estate. This is where a greater emphasis on the part of the building authority would certainly help. If people in one house cannot agree, how do you want to reach a consensus for the whole housing estate, where 3,500 people live?
Another question remains, does the citizen of distant Strakonice have the right, without any tax liability towards Letňany, to hold the employees of the town hall with confusing emails, which are written on the verge of a mental disorder? We, who are the real inhabitants of Letňany, pay the taxes here, from which the operation of the village is financed, we have the right. We can ask questions, we can criticize the operation of the community and those who are more constructive can propose solutions. Those citizens who sleep here 2 days a week and pay all taxes in another city certainly have the right to comment on what is happening in our village, but where is the border? How is it possible that a town hall employee who is supposed to take care of Letňanská zelena spends 4 hours a day answering frantic emails that even their mentally disturbed author from Krausova Street does not understand? As a citizen, I want the staff of the town hall to be out on the streets and taking care of our greenery. I definitely do not agree with them sitting unnecessarily at a computer and emailing with a non-citizen Letňany, whose dozens of messages a month can be considered a criminal offense within the meaning of Section 354 of Act 40/2009.
The election has clearly shown that the Lentils have the support of the majority. The vote of the council was always almost unambiguous. Yes, you too, Ondra, have been very supportive of the Lentils in their time. Too bad you didn’t come up with the idea for new parking spaces, when you miss them so much now.
It is strange to read current statements, for example, on unresolved parking from people who were right at the birth of the project. Here the only question that comes to my mind is: Why didn’t proposals for more parking spaces, more greenery, more playgrounds come then? I can think of only two reasons. Either we have already maximized the parking areas in relation to the green areas in the proposal, or these people are sipping dry straw, because they themselves have no idea where to make even one parking space.
It is also great that the thinking of some officials has finally shifted to parking garages. When I came up with the idea two years ago, it was considered another mottled monument to an active councilor.
Everyone who has ever fought Lentils must now come to terms with one thing. Lentils are standing here and will stand for decades to come. The discussion took place years ago and was attended by anyone who was interested (… already 2 years before the start of construction). Critics were hidden behind the kiln, and when construction began, they came up with “smart” ideas. Where were you when the project was being prepared? When and to whom did you submit your specific proposals for a change of settlement? Why didn’t any of you contribute your opinion to the project, as a large number of people living in the housing estate have done?
The support of Lentilek was also tested right at the beginning of the construction by a civic association, if you want to be known today as a registered association. It is a great pity that we never found out what support the petition sent to more than 35 SVJ had. How many called back? 2 or 3? I have personally discussed lentils over the years with hundreds of my neighbors, and 99% of them have welcomed any change to the old settlement. Perhaps it would be worthwhile for other former or current representatives of the community to walk more among the people and not solve their often personal problems only among “theirs”.
Almost none of all the sensible people decided whether the sidewalk would run this way or 2 meters next door. They had comments on the greenery, parking, playgrounds, etc. They responded to all the designers. And so people were looking forward to turning the old standardization space into a modern place to live. And they also agreed in the plebiscite. It is a pity that we politicians have poisoned them so much that so few have come.
It was also interesting to analyze the discussions under the individual articles. It is surprising how many discussants think that the Internet is an anonymous platform. In particular, some “experts in the field of Public Relations” tried to change names often to give the impression that there are more than 10 of them in Letňany. civic association.
I wish us all that the discussion about the first Lentils ends. It will certainly be difficult for some to find a new topic to criticize, but perhaps the community leadership will come up with another big project, on which various self-propellants will be able to throw dirt only because it was invented by someone in another trick. Everyone can criticize, but when will someone from the lentil opposition finally come up with a specific proposal for a change in the project? Where are you all experts in greenery, transport, tenders, construction work…? Why don’t any of you come up with a proposal for where to plant new trees, where to build new parking spaces or where there should be a new playground? Why doesn’t anyone take Lentilek when “it’s a city district project, not one councilor’s”?
In the coming years, the completion of the revitalization of the courtyard at the Malkovského kindergarten will hopefully be addressed. The Snake Trail or the Parterre of the Tupolev Elementary School are also waiting to be completed. I invite not only our representatives: Put your hand to the work and propose changes to the housing estate in your opinion. Do you want new trees? Do you have an idea how to solve the arrival to Malkovsky’s kindergarten? Where do you propose to build new parking spaces? Throw your arguments and specific suggestions on the table so we can discuss them. Do you dare to complete the next stages? Great, go for it!
I recommend that you first go among the people who live in the housing estate and ask them. Organize a public presentation with your specific suggestions. Get majority support. Agree with all SVJ, which owns the land, for consent within the zoning procedure and building permit. Enter into contracts with them. Try to find a grant program and prepare a quality application. Win a grant lottery. Prepare the tender documentation and make a tender in which no company will appeal to the Office. Sign the implementation contract and go twice a week for half-day inspection days. And you only have 3 years to do all this. That it’s a lot of work? Yes, tens of hours a month. That you have your own job outside City Hall? But after all, some of you are now fully in charge of the community, so show that you can do it better. Show what you sometimes pay for Letňany. Everyone can sit on commissions or control committees. However, Letňany need hands that can work.
Or did you go into politics just to sit on commissions and editorial boards? Ask yourself: “Did I go into politics to do something tangible for Letňany? Or do I just want a paid job, sit on the commissions and criticize even the little that will change in Letňany in the coming years?”
After all, you only need to find 350 people and you can be in the council of 20,000 villages. To convince people, it is enough to write once that the mayor is stealing or that you are against felling trees. And if you want a little more votes, invite flying swans to Letňany and people will immediately forget that your family has built a new house for money from developers.
Yes, doing something tangible for people requires a really huge amount of work. But finally, the work will make sense. What are unsuccessful petitions for? Why write derogatory election articles full of lies and nonsense? Will quarrels benefit the Letňans about 100 more characters in Listy? Isn’t it better to devote energy to something that has a real benefit? After all, everyone has the right to get up from their seats, convince a few people, be elected to the leadership of the community and show that they can do something. Everyone who won a seat in the elections has not only the right, but above all the obligation to work for the benefit of our part of the city. However, the work is not about sitting on commissions or editorial boards.
The work is about gathering myself, walking through the village, finding out its problems and solving them. However, most people with a current mandate can only talk about what is wrong in the community, but few can design and implement something with a meaningful result. However, the inhabitants of Letňany are beaten the most. On the other hand, it was they who chose their representatives according to electoral promises, which most of their creators cannot and will never fulfill. But once you’re up there in the town hall, then for people who threw a ticket in the urn for you, it won’t be enough to just repeat that someone is stealing or that it’s not badly cooked in the dining rooms. People want to see that you have done something for Letňany in those 4 years and you have quality ideas on what to do next.
Let us hope that in 2018 we will all be able to turn to tangible results that will move our small part of the city further into the third decade of the third millennium. Perhaps the bullshit about transparency and populist ideas such as expensive videos from boring council meetings will soon cease – although I was surprised that almost 30 people watched the broadcast (after deducting the councilors themselves, who love to look at themselves). But wouldn’t it be better to buy children a new computer on the base than to invest in a video that is watched by people who are lazy to walk 500 meters to the town hall?
It is irrelevant whether or not someone is in the leadership of the municipality. You don’t need to be mayor to get a good idea. Do you know how to continue in Lentilky? Do you have an idea for another positive change? Come to the town hall and everyone will take care of you. Right-wing and left-wing differences are blurred in communal politics. Everyone who really wants to work has the opportunity. However, quality and reasonable ideas and the desire to implement them is currently the largest deficit in Letňany.
The professional public considers it a great success when revitalized areas become part of people’s daily lives. It is not a habit or a rule, but rather the opposite: new squares or playgrounds are empty because they are built in the wrong places or in a space that people just walk through quickly when they run home from work. However, this is not the case with our Lentils. Here we managed to make a high-quality public space, which the inhabitants learned to use very quickly. The benches are fully occupied, the playground is full of children and whether it is morning or evening, you will always meet several people in Lentilky who are just walking around. People now enjoy being outside and that’s the biggest success.
Lentils changed our old housing estate. Every morning when we look out the windows, we see them. We, who can look right, please rejoice that the housing estate is beautifully green and our children can finally play elsewhere than on the pyramid. We have new sidewalks, a fountain and, for some, useless chess. Our housing estate is richer with 100 new trees, several parking spaces and a few thousand perennials. Lentils are standing, no one will tear them down, and they will enjoy every well-balanced inhabitant of the housing estate for decades to come.
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I’m sure the reactions to this article won’t be long in coming. I will be happy to read them when I sit with my son on a red or purple lentil full of children. And if you know someone in the above description, write. But don’t forget that the needy goose squeaks the most.
And why isn’t it under the discussion article? And you know I don’t even know exactly. Probably because I just don’t want to confuse this site with nonsense. My contacts are public, so use them. I do not want to give space to the few people who, under different names, try to give the impression that there are most of them. And I also want to pay more attention to my family. My work priorities also go in a completely different direction. And what will happen to Lentilky next? I don’t know. Maybe one day in Letňany it will be better 😉