PLANNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE EUROPE? - TU Berlin

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The permission plan and the EIA of the project show that the route was going to
pass through an area protected under the Hungarian Act 53/1996 on Nature Protection
inhabited by a protected bush. The route was also situated about 300 meters away from a
housing estate called Káposztásmegyer II that houses about 5000 people. A junction was
planned only 150 meters away from the local nursery, with the public access roads
leading up to it less than 15 meters away from residences and key social institutions
including a kindergarten and primary school. According to assessments presented by the
Clean Air Action Group, the network of civic and environmental organizations that led
the protest against the case, permissible air pollution levels in the area were to be
exceeded by up to 30% and noise levels would reach up to 76 dB during the day and up
to 68 dB at night, thus also greatly exceeding permissible levels (of 65 and 55 dB,
respectively) according to WHO and EU standards (also see picture 9.1).
Picture 9.1: Construction of the Northern Section of the M0 ring road with the
Káposztásmegzer II Housing Estate in the background.
Photo Credit: Feiler and Stoczkiewicz (1999:22)