Protect it. Keep it. Let it grow.
Our demands:
1. Respect our agency and independence. Do not speak for us.
Explanation: The district council speaks for us and makes decisions about our lives without our consent. Here are few examples: The Rent: The council claims we won‘t be able to pay higher rent in case the houses get repaired, yet our residents were open to pay more if it meant they can stay in their houses (as demonstrated in our participation activities). Open community: The council implies Bedřiška is a community that does not accept new residents. Our association is called N.O.B.L. (CZ: Nová ostravská Bedřiška lidem, EN: New Bedřiška of Ostrava for the People), and the conclusions of the participation activities confirm our community is open to new families, new vigor, and new relationships between new neighbours. The quality of the housing: The council claims the houses are too small and not up to standards of the 21st century. We consider the 56 m² enough, we may not have „golden doorknobs“ but we have our gardens, our community center is just across the road and we have friendly neighbours.
2. Let‘s make the working group 50% Bedřiška representation, 50% the council representation
Explanation: The working group for Bedřiška that has got it‘s active status renewed last year has 10 members, 9 of which are representatives of the city, only one is representative of Bedřiška, Eva Lehotská. These unequal conditions lead to situations were Lehotská faces pressure and her vote is not taken as seriously as it should be. 50/50 distribution of representatives would be just. Both sides would have equal part in decision making thus actual participation would be achieved and opinions of citizens of Bedřiška would be respected.
3. Stop the demolition of the houses and let people move to the houses that are empty.
Explanation: Since 2010 there was 11 houses torn down in Bedřiška that should have been repaired and used by the residents. There is few empty houses in Bedřiška, someone could move in and live in them. The number of people interested in living in Bedřiška keeps increasing but their requests are not accepted by the council, even when the people offer to fund the repairs themselves. The demolition endangers existence of the whole settlement. Instead of demolition the council should agree to renovation and maintenance of the houses, so they can be used as affordable housing for current residents as well as for new ones. Such measures would not only keep the historical essence of Bedříška, they would also also strengthen our community.
4. Support the evicted families. Let the families return if they want to do so.
Explanation: A number of forcibly evicted families already faces debt. For last couple of years nobody in Bedřiška faced debt, except for the two families losing two months income. Forced eviction lead to families losing housing benefit money and many other problems (for example: being moved to apartments with no appliances and no kitchen). The evicted moved to apartments pay much higher rent compared to people already living in the area, even when they are moved to parts of the city where they used to live decades ago themselves. Nothing comparable ever happened to them in Bedřiška. There is a community to support them, a community center with after school education and free time activities for their children. There are reasons for the evicted to return back to Bedřiška, because Bedřiška can offer them better standard of living, and they can feel their effort is worth it. The families that do not seek to return should be offered financial and social support by the council to can avoid poverty.
5. Sell Bedřiška to the community
Explanation: If it is so the council cannot take care of the development of Bedřiška now and rejects the socially sensitive study „Revitalizace kolonie Bedřiška“ (EN: Revitalization of the Bedřiška Colony) from 2021, the best possible solution is to sell the houses to the community. We are aware the process requires careful planning and expertise, that‘s why we are happy to take advice from the council to benefit from their experience and skills. Our citizens have a number of detailed concepts of funding ready. Founding a social housing cooperative is our favorite. The bought houses and land and financial capital of the residents would be the property that let‘s us get a loan to cover the expenses of the purchase and of the part of the repairs we wouldn't be able to cover from grants (for example from „Nová zelená úsparám“, a grant for economic housing)
We, the citizens of Bedřiška, know what we want, and we know how to achieve it. We want affordable housing in collective ownership so we can stay in Bedřiška and continue living the lives we worked for. The ties in our community are strong, it‘s history rich, the demolition and the evictions, the uncertainty and no guarantees of security have strong emotional impact on us. Selling the houses with the land to us would not only secure our stability but would also let us have independent governance and development of our unique settlement.