Capital’s town council initiates the settlement of the problems in Nature Park Vitosha

Several councilors participated in the workshop: Lorita Radeva and Anatoli Iliev (GERB), Ivan Velkov (PG – 5), Martha Georgieva and Stefan Markov (RB), Milka Hristova (BSP), and Aneta Grigorova (Serdika). Representative for Green Legislation was Toma Belev. Also present was Lubomir Kostadinov from WWF.
On one hand, Green Legislation pinpointed the problems on which the town council can work, namely:
1. The dire need to activate the already existing waste-water purification plant in Center Aleko as currently due to wear and tear of the existing sewers network the waste-waters from the 3 hotels, the guest and the rest houses, the ski-lift facility “Simeonovo-Aleko”, are all dumped in the adjacent streams.
2. In terms of the accessibility for tourists from Sofia to Nature Park Vitosha, the group suggested:
a. To secure access for tourists, including cyclists, also during the working week via public transport – busses and ski-lifts;
b. To secure access to the Center ”Zlatnite Mostove” (The Golden Bridges) also during the working week and in the winter season;
c. The town council does not own any of the ski-lifts in the area, it could request from the State to manage the lift “Zaeka” (The Rabbit), which is owned by the Ministry for the Sport, and thus being extremely suitable for ski-training of children and youth;
d. Personal motor vehicles – several options were suggested for managing the traffic from cars according the current Park management plan. A system for monitoring the parking availability and corresponding regulation of the traffic accordingly has been a subject of discussion. To this day, personal vehicles are prohibited in the area of Nature Park Vitosha between 11 and 14h over the weekend days, but this measure is not effective due to the absence of parking monitoring system. As a result, the excessive accumulation of traffic is still observed, without currently existing alternative option. For any interdiction of cars in the area to be effective, a reliable public transport should be arranged to and from the area of the park.
e. Another point made was the future of the supplies-lift towards rest house “Akademic”, owned by the National Sports Academy. If it is decided for renovation of the facility, it can be bought by Sofia’s town council and thus be also used for tourists, visiting the higher points of the park from the village Jeleznica.
f. The lift Kniajevo could be restored, if it was owned by the municipality, with funds from the Operational Programme Environment 2014-2020. Currently the lift is in very bad condition, it’s dangerous, the buildings are run-down, and with its key role for the western region of Sofia the municipality should consider options for its restoration. It is also possible, that the lift is declared too dangerous and irreparable, thus completely removing it and constructing a new one.
3. The problems with out of order facilities in ski-centers Aleko and Konjarnik, and the possibility for arrangement with the current owner, for them to be acquired by the capital’s municipality in order to facilitate their accessibility by the public and their connectivity with the public transport in the area were also pinpointed.
4. It was also clarified that with the majority of the properties in the Nature Park Vatisha, owned by the Town Council, the councilors foresee the establishment of a Public-private partnership aiming at developing new services and new functions (e.g. education, rest etc.)

During the workshop, the councilors announced that in a weeks’ time, the town council will form an Action Group for Nature Park Vitosha, which will be occupied with all these tasks. The general idea is for the Town Council to become a permanent initiator for the resolution of problems in Nature Park Vitosha, but also to actively participate and mediate the decision making. The councilors stressed the invaluable help in this endeavor of NGOs and experts in providing ideas and information.