Ploughing your own furrow

According to the Arable and Forest Land Protection Act of 1995, changing the predefined purpose of land can occur in one of two stages: firstly, in the interim period, whilst waiting for a decision on the site development conditions (WZ) the investor can acquire consent to change the local development plan (PZP); and, secondly, when applying for a building permit, decision can be obtained on redefining the land’s status as destined for agricultural use.

The ‘easy’ version

The second basic issue is soil quality class. A decision to take land out of agricultural production can be issued for mineral soil of quality classes from I to IIIb and organic soils of IV to VI quality classes.

 Trouble may occur when the land the investor has set his heart on is of a high class (I – IIIb), or is of organic origin. Should there be little good agricultural land in the region, the local authorities may order the fertile humus layer to be removed from the plot for use on other poorer land. This procedure is consistent with the Agriculture and Forest Protection Act, which states that land defined as fallow and “of the lowest production capacity” may be used for non-agricultural and non-forest purposes.

 It comes as no surprise to learn that interest in agricultural land within city boundaries continues to intensify.

Growing interest in land removed from agro-production has also been noticed in Wrocław. In 2005, the use was changed for 39-ha of I-III soil quality classes within the city boundaries; in 2006, 67-ha changed use, with the figure set to exceed 100-ha this year, according to Wrocław city council’s estimates. According to Rafał Florczak of Wrocław city council’s press office, the land taken out of agro-production is mainly used for housing and industrial investments. The number of related applications to Łódź city council is also rising. 130 applications were received by the city’s geodesic and cadastral department in 2005, rising to 146 in 2006 and reaching more than 100 so far this year. The majority were for land in the Widzew and Łódź Górna districts.

Białystok has also been experiencing an upsurge of interest in removing land plots from agro-production. According to Anna Rakieć, director of the geodesic and cadastral department of the city council, 270 applications were received in 2006 and 138 by June this year, with an intensification of the number of applications expected at the end of the holiday period. Białystok could become quite a tasty morsel for investors, since the city increased its area by more than 400-ha (around 10 pct) by annexing part of the neighbouring Zabłudów district, largely made up of agricultural land.

Bank in the peripheries

Grażyna Kapelko of the Agricultural Property Agency remarks that: “Only around 80,000-ha of this land is within the spheres of influence of large cities and so is of a non-agricultural nature, which means it is suitable for housing construction, economic zones and logistics parks. Since this land was once the property of state farms, in the best case it exists on the city outskirts.”

 Investors are willing to come to terms with the problems related to removing land from agro-production, since attractive locations within city boundaries are literally becoming thin on the ground.

A proposal from the Ministry of Construction to remove all land within city administration boundaries from agro-production by legal instruments to reclassify it as land for housing development could diametrically change the whole situation. A plan to amend the Spatial Planning and Development Act was approved by the Council of Ministers on May 8th and put before Parliament. Should Parliament accept the Ministry’s proposals, the new Act would simplify both spatial planning procedures and also cover the use of railway land situated within city boundaries.Tomasz Cudowski