News from Kraków – 20th Feb 2022

Winter sports centre delayed – New Crossing on Pawia – Payment required to visit National Parks – Fort becomes New Museum – Ryanair drops Kraków connections – New Tram Route – Red Beech Lost to Storm – Kraków Plaza to be demolished – Higher fines for disabled parking and overtaking at crossings – Kraków’s most expensive bench?

Here’s a roundup of some of the news stories, that caught our eye over the past week or so.

Year round winter sports centre delayed
The planned all-year-round Winter Sports Centre,  has been delayed due to lack of funds.  It was originally planned to open in Mały Płaszów at the end of 2023 into 2024 however the pandemic and rising costs have left the budget short.

The winter sports centre is planned for the area of ​​Lipska and Myśliwska (District XIII Podgórze), in the vicinity of the multifunctional sports field “Orlik 2012”. The centre is set to include two artificial ice rinks (including one for curling), an indoor swimming pool, a floodlit plastic covered hill for beginners, multi-functional cross-country trails and a playground for skateboards and roller skates.

Officials are working on ways to secure the additional funding required, whilst locals suggest downscaling the plans to build only a simpler project such as a swimming pool.        Source  Gazeta Krakowska

New Pedestrian Crossing on Pawia
A new pedestrian crossing is to be created on the busy section of Pawia, close to Planty and Galeria Krakowska.  At present crossing the road involves a long walk to either the underpass or alternate road crossings,.

There will be a new above-ground pedestrian crossing,  thanks to which pedestrians will no longer have to add a few hundred meters walk to get to the other side of the road.

There are however some concerns, that in a city where the car is king, that this may frustrate drivers or cause traffic problems for drivers at the junction.  Source Gazeta Krakowska.

Payment will be required to visit Ocjow and all National Parks
New Government draft legislation is set to impose entry fees to all national Parks in Poland. Currently paid entry tickets, costing 8zl or 4zl, are only required in 11 out of 23 national parks, including: Bieszczadzkie, Karkonoski and Tatrzański.

An additional amount will be added to the price of an admission ticket to a national park located in mountain areas for the benefit of mountain rescue organisations operating in a given national park. The proposed additional fee is to amount to 15 percent. the amount of the admission ticket price. Currently, for example, in the case of the Tatra National Park, the fee is included in the ticket price.

Until now, residents of communes adjacent to parks were exempt from paying fees. In the case of the Ojców National Park, this meant that the inhabitants of Kraków and the surrounding communes did not have to pay. The purpose of the amendment is to introduce fees for residents of large cities adjacent to national parks.

The draft act on national parks will includes certain exemptions to the paid entry fee:-:

  • going to the beaches designated in the national park, on roads or tourist routes designated by the director of the national park,
  • going to places of religious worship located in the area of ​​the national park, on roads or tourist routes designated by the director of the national park,
  • with a valid Large Family Card (Karta Dużej Rodziny) – Which is also available to foreigners

Parks will also be able to charge other fees for sharing their area, e.g. for filming and photographing, in particular for commercial purposes.
(Source: Kraków News)

Work Commenced in August 2015 – Photo – David McGirr

Derelict Fort becomes New Scouting Museum
A new Museum of Scouting and Fortress Kraków Museum is due to open in a few months in a former Fort. Fort Łapianka, also known as Jugowica, situated on ul Forteczka, Kliny, Kraków has underdone a complete, long term (2015) and expensive – 34 million złóty – renovation, turning the decaying fort into a state of the art museum and exhibition space, with landscaped grounds.    The new museum combines the restored former fort with a new build addition, set into the ground, to minimise impact at the historic site.

We’re particularly interested in this development as it is literally just across the back garden fence from KED HQ.

Read more at Wyborcza.pl and  Krakow.pl, who also produced this video:-
https://youtu.be/hpB89fymjqs

Ryanair drops more Kraków connections
Ryanair are to drop a further 11 Polish routes, including four connections from Kraków: to Frankfurt, Bordeaux, Amman and Malmo along with the routes from Katowice to Edinburgh and Birmingham. Ryanair has suspended 70 routes from Poland since January.   (source Onet Podróźe)

Photo Gazeta Krakowska

New Łagiewniki Tram Route
Work on the Łagiewniki Route – new road and tram connections, has been ongoing in the South of the city for what seems like an eternity.  The new tram line from Zakopianska to Kurdwanow has now been completed, but is not due to open until Summer. (source: Gazeta Krakowska)

Photo Bogusław Świerzowski / kraków.pl

Grand Red Beech Lost to Storm
Last weeks storms uprooted the oldest and one of the prettiest trees on Planty.  The red leafed Beech Tree was an imposing sight, designated as a ‘tree monument’, and many peoples favourite tree on the Planty. Authorities reported that the 27m high tree was weakened by disease and infected by a fungus.
(Source: krakow.pl)

Krakow Plaza Shopping Centre to be demolished
As new shopping centres have sprung up like mushrooms in and around Kraków over the years, one is about to be buck the trend and is facing demolition.

The new owners, developers STRABAG Real Estate confirmed that Kraków Plaza Shopping Centre will be demolished, as they do not intend to continue its commercial activities. A completely different complex will most likely be built in this area.  (source: LIfe in Kraków)

Higher Fines for Parking in disabled bays
Kraków Straż Miejska report that the first local drivers are beginning to feel the costly penalty of the higher fines for parking in disabled spaces.

This week, two drivers found out that occupying parking spaces reserved for disabled people, without having the right to do so, can cost dearly. For the unlawful use of parking cards, each of them was fined PLN 1,200 and 5 penalty points  (source: Gazeta Krakowska)

Don’t overtake before pedestrian crossing
Sticking with the theme of the new higher fine tariff’s and following a number of recent fatal accidents in the region at pedestrian crossings, it’s worth remembering that it is unsafe and illegal to overtake at the approach to a pedestrian crossing.  The Police regularly carry out operations to catch offenders, who now face a 1500zł fine.  (source Gazeta Krakowska)

Photo Jakub Włodek / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Expensive Bench, but was it plagiarised?
Further controversy surrounds what is likely, Kraków’s most infamous and expensive bench., which forms part of the newly renovated pl. Biskupi.

Having cost an eye watering 228,000 złoty (no, that’s not a typo!) a company now claim that the design of the bench has been copied from one of their designs.  They intend to take the matter to court.
(source: Wyborcza.pl)

 

If you have any news, events  or other stories you think we should feature, please do get in touch.


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