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Protected monuments, historic buildings decay in the Buda Hills, the Two-Tailed Dog Party blames the local government
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The Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party collected protected monuments and historic buildings on a map in the XII. District of Budapest, to draw attention to the declining architectural treasures of the Buda Hills. According to the party’s co-president and municipal representative, Gergely Kovács, no one is holding the owners to account for the regulations for preserving the condition of protected buildings. Under the law, a fine could be imposed and the owner of the building could be required to preserve it. In practice this is not happening, and the owners are often interested in the destruction of the monuments in order to build something new on these valuable plots.
One of the most patinated buildings in the Buda Hills, Villa Karczag, has endured for 175 years, but it will obviously soon collapse if its renovation is not started urgently. Broken windows, a burnt and half-torn roof, crumbling walls, disappearing plaster, and a cellar that had collapsed in several places looked back at us as we looked at the XII. district villa, which was built in 1844 for the Karczag family according to the plans of József Hild. It was relatively easy to get to the property: there are huge holes in the fence.
The building of the former Tündérhegy Psychiatry was sold out four years ago still in good condition at a very depressed price. The building has since begun to decay rapidly, despite the existence of a district ordinance precisely designed to prevent such a thing from happening.
Gergely Kovács, municipal representative of the XII. District of Budapest and co-president of the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party, invited us to see the damage ourselves in the Buda Hills, where patinated and theoretically protected buildings are eroding. According to Kovács, no one holds the owners accountable for the preservation obligation, who are often not even interested in preserving the monuments.
Műemlék épületek pusztulnak a budai hegyekben – katasztrófatúra Kovács Gergellyel from atlatszo.hu on Vimeo.
The Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party collected the protected buildings of the XII. District on a map to draw attention to the declining architectural treasures of the Buda Hills. According to Kovács, the municipality does not even comply with its own regulations in this matter.
We contacted the XII. District Mayors Office to get to know their concept of the protection of local monuments.
“Since 2007, the municipality has announced tenders eleven times in a total worth of HUF 135 million, in which owners of buildings protected at the national, capital and district levels can apply for non-refundable support. Seventy buildings were renovated from the tender framework. A review of the district’s building regulations is now underway, which will include regulations to encourage the renovation of protected buildings” – Zsolt Arató, press chief of Mayor Zoltán Pokorni (Fidesz) answered to our questions.
In his reply the press chief of the district mayor emphasized that the preservation of protected architectural values is an important goal of the local government, but he did not answer what sanctions and procedures the district management initiated in connection with the apparently long-standing decay of several protected buildings under their watch.
Written by Gabriella Horn, you can read the Hungarian version of this article here.