What is being built on the Pulkovo heights. "Planetograd" against the Pulkovo Observatory, or how new buildings threaten Russian science
The recent story with the Soyuz MS-10 has brought the topic of space to the forefront of the information agenda. We all know that Russia is a great space power. It is not for nothing that domestic engines are now on American rockets, and NASA astronauts fly to the ISS on board Russian shuttles. But a country's claims to space are not based on engines, rockets and satellites alone. The theoretical foundation is no less important here. That is why we would like our astronomy to stand firmly on its feet and develop as rapidly as possible.
Unfortunately, specific example from recent history Petersburg shows us that everything is far from being as smooth as it could be. Earlier, NEVSKIE NEWS already wrote about the complex, now formed around the Pulkovo Observatory, also known as the GAO RAN. Recall that a number of developers are planning to build a massive residential complex "Planetograd" on the territory of a three-kilometer protected park zone at the Pulkovo Heights in the coming years. It is designed for thousands of apartments and a hundred thousand residents.
In February last year, the St. Petersburg Union of Scientists sent to Prime Minister Medvedev and Governor Poltavchenko open letter, in which it was noted that the appearance of a new small town under the walls of the observatory would completely destroy the fragile astronomical climate of the area. Dusty air, as well as additional illumination of the night sky, will make astronomical observations from Pulkovskaya Gora impossible.
So far, neither the protests of scientists, nor the active struggle for the preservation of the Pulkovo Observatory, unleashed by activists, have yielded unequivocally positive results. The construction of Planetograd, although it has been slowed down, is still considered legal, as it is based on valid permits issued by officials in Smolny. Litigation continues over the rights of developers to build.
The activists hope that they will be able to defend the dark sky over the Pulkovo Heights and the observatory itself for Russian science. So far, however, things are not going as well as they might like. In particular, there is no clear response from the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Science and higher education RF.
However, there is an opinion that the main ill-wishers of the SAO RAS have settled not at the federal, but at the city level. For most of the last decade, Smolny, under the pretext of attracting investment, actively sold land located near significant historical buildings and architectural ensembles. This is how the developers got the rights to the territory of the protected park near the Pulkovo Observatory.
Pulkovo Observatory is a cultural heritage site protected both by UNESCO and Russian legislation... Culture is culture, but from the apologists of housing construction on its territory, one can hear that the scientific significance of this object is no longer what it used to be. The consensus within the academic community itself shows the inconsistency of these arguments. So, for example, the list of the most important astronomical studies of 2017 compiled by the Russian Academy of Sciences includes three projects at once, carried out within the walls of the Pulkovo Observatory.
If, due to the loss of the Petersburg sky, scientists from the GAO RAS have to move to Karelia or, as some suggest, to the Caucasus, it will not be so easy to build a similar base for advanced research there. Surely it will not be cheap at all. Thus, due to the short-sightedness of the St. Petersburg bureaucracy, the sword of Damocles hung not only over an important cultural monument of the Northern capital, but also over the entire national science.
Combination of picturesque countryside and low prices, transport accessibility and clean air, urban comfort and suburban serenity - this is what the new buildings of Pulkovo Heights are.
Residents of the Pushkin District mostly work in the center or other parts of St. Petersburg, but do not spend 2-3 hours on daily trips. Four city roads provide a choice of a shortcut.
The number of new buildings at Pulkovo Heights
The surrounding nature attracts those who want to buy an apartment in a clean and beautiful place, while saving half of the cost of housing in the center. Around the Pulkovo Heights, new buildings appear one after another - in a couple of years the district will turn into a full-fledged part of St. Petersburg with a large population, developed infrastructure, although today the area cannot be called abandoned or backward.
According to official statistics, 40,000 inhabitants have been added here over the past 5 years. Back in 2012, the experts of the Restate portal noted the growing activity of development in the Pushkinsky and Moskovsky districts. When there were no blank spots in the northern part of St. Petersburg, developers moved to the south. In local cities and towns, separate houses, complexes and quarters of high-rise and low-rise buildings appeared. Since then, the number of finished objects and new buildings at the Pulkovo Heights has been steadily growing.
How to choose a new building near Pulkovo Heights?
The Krasnaya Arrow company offers apartments in the Neoclassic residential complex, a promising complex at the intersection of the main city highways. A cozy quarter of four-storey buildings will be the best place for a young family, the birth of children, a quiet rest after a working day. Look at the projects and sketches, choose the layout of the apartment, the cost - all this can be done on the company's website.
Still have questions? Contact your sales representative. The specialist will help you choose housing, explain in detail each stage of the purchase, show the object on the ground. Call, specify the cost, calculate the costs, taking into account discounts and special offers. It is faster and easier to become the owner of an apartment under construction near Pulkovo Heights with professional support.
In early June, it became known that the Pulkovo Observatory would close all its observation programs within five years and transfer them to other bases. This decision was made at the RAS. This was preceded by several years of disputes and courts over the construction of the Planetograd residential complex in the protective zone of the observatory. Employees of the Pulkovo Observatory and city rights activists have said many times that the construction is illegal and will interfere with observations.
"Paper" collected everything that is known about the future of the Pulkovo Observatory, the courts due to the construction of the "Planetograd" and the reaction of Petersburgers to the termination of observations in an institution that has been operating in St. Petersburg for almost 180 years.
For nine years they have been trying to build the Planetograd residential complex near the Pulkovo Observatory. City defenders and scientists opposed the construction
There is a three-kilometer protective zone around the Pulkovo Observatory. It is forbidden to build industrial facilities and large housing on its territory; any construction must be coordinated with the observatory. In 2009, it became known that in this zone to the south of the institution it is planned to build a residential complex "Planetograd" with an area of more than 2 million square meters. m. The project is being implemented by the construction company Setl City together with the Israeli firm Morgal Investments.
Even then, the project was criticized by the researchers of the observatory, who said that the light from the construction site and in the future of the LCD itself would interfere with observations.
The development project was approved by Smolny. And then the new director of the observatory
In 2014, the planning project for development was approved by Smolny. In the same year, the first works began. In February 2016, the Scientific Council of the Pulkovo Observatory refused to approve the construction of the Planetograd in the protection zone. In May 2016, the director was changed at the observatory - Nazar Ikhsanov became the new leader. At the end of the year, he approved the development. By this time, Smolny approved an increase in the building height to 18 m.At the end of 2016, full-fledged construction work began.
Scientists and St. Petersburg city rights activists criticized Ikhsanov's decision. In February 2017, 127 employees of the Pulkovo Observatory issued a vote of no confidence to the new director. Ikhsanov explained that there were no reasons for refusing the approval.
At the beginning of 2017, the director of the observatory announced the termination of observations in St. Petersburg in the future.
Nazar Ikhsanov said in February 2017 that the observations of the Pulkovo Observatory are planned to be completely transferred to the Caucasus, where there is already a site suitable for these purposes, and to stop observing in St. Petersburg.
Ikhsanov also said that St. Petersburg has a "bad astroclimate." “The development of the observatory observation site in Pulkovo is already ineffective, it is, in fact, a waste of state funds. The Academy of Sciences recommended that we develop external bases back in 2009, ”he said.
At the end of 2017, the city court canceled the construction permit for the Planetograd residential complex
In the spring of 2017, the initiative group of the Pulkovo Observatory defenders filed several lawsuits in connection with the construction of the Planetograd. In November 2017, the Kuibyshevsky District Court, in one of the lawsuits for the illegal construction of the Planetograd residential complex, canceled the building permit.
Setl Group then did not agree with the decision, considering that construction was being carried out on legal grounds... The developer appealed the verdict of first instance in the city court, but this instance also sided with the defenders of the Pulkovo Observatory.
In May 2018, the Supreme Court recognized the plan of the Planetograd as legal
The Appeals Board of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on May 23, 2018, after a complaint from the developer, recognized the planning project of the Planetograd residential complex next to the Pulkovo Observatory as legal. Thus, she overturned the decision of the city court of St. Petersburg on one of the claims initiative group defenders of the Pulkovo Observatory, associated specifically with the planning project, and not with the building permit.
Pulkovo Observatory will stop astronomical observations within five years
On June 5, the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences issued a decree, from which it follows that the Pulkovo Observatory within five years will curtail all its observational programs. Astronomical observations will be transferred to other observation bases located in "more favorable astroclimatic conditions." What specific bases are in question has not yet been specified, but the observatory mentioned the site in Kislovodsk.
The observatory explained that so far it comes only about observations. The staff of the institution does not move anywhere and will continue scientific work in the same building.
City defenders intend to appeal against the decision of the Supreme Court
Activist Anastasia Plyuto, one of the plaintiffs, said the Supreme Court decision would be appealed. However, as Plyuto told "Paper", by June 13, the plaintiffs had not yet received the written part of the court's decision, therefore, they cannot yet appeal it.
The activists also appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to prevent construction around the observatory, cancel the decision of the Russian Academy of Sciences to transfer observations to other bases and "take measures against the policy of the current director."
At public hearings in the village of Shushary, a project for the development of land was presented, which starts from the intersection of Pulkovskoye and Peterburgskoye highways. The developer intends to build a residential area for 7,500 residents here. Judging by the fact that none of the three people who came to the hearings spoke out against, the project will be implemented. Thus, the first large-scale construction will begin next to the Pulkovo Heights Observatory.
The estimated start date for the project is 2012. Construction company has already received all the necessary approvals.
http://gorod-pushkin.info/strojka-pulkovo-05-11
In addition, the implementation of the project for the integrated development of the territory "On Tsarskoye Selo Hills"
suggesting the development of the Pulkovo Heights area with buildings up to 60 meters high.
UPDATE: Added a project declaration for the construction of a residential complex as part of a complex development of the territory
The project provides for the development of two land plots privately owned.
Territory of 203.4 hectares, land plot No. 21 in accordance with the General Plan of St. Petersburg is intended for low-rise apartment buildings. According to the Law of St. Petersburg "On the Rules of Land Use and Development of St. Petersburg" dated February 16, 2009 No. 29-10, the maximum height of buildings and structures on the territory is 18 meters. The volume of construction of residential and commercial buildings will amount to 2,500,000 square meters.
A public and business zone with an area of 31 hectares has been allocated along the Petersburg highway for the construction of commercial facilities, such as business centers, supermarkets, shopping and entertainment complexes, which are focused on residents of the area under construction, residents of the cities of Pushkin and Pavlovsk and the flow of tourists, which is 3 and a half million a year.
The territory of 112.7 hectares - land plot No. 23 in accordance with the General Plan of St. Petersburg is intended for mid-rise and multi-storey apartment buildings.
According to the Law of St. Petersburg "On the Rules of Land Use and Development of St. Petersburg" dated February 16, 2009 No. 29-10 the maximum height of buildings and structures on the territory is 48 meters with 60 meters dominants. The volume of construction of areas for various purposes will amount to 2,500,000 square meters.
The territory of the future international exhibition and congress center, designed by Gazprom's structures, adjoins the western border of the site. In order to create a single business space, a public and business zone with an area of 26 hectares has been allocated, which will include shopping and entertainment and business complexes, 2 hotels, 2 cinema multiplexes, apartment hotels, restaurants, conference rooms, a family recreation area, SPA zone.
On the territory adjacent to the Pulkovo reservoir, it is planned to place a complex of religious and ritual objects of the Orthodox Cathedral.
http://devcent.ru/projects/detail.php?ID=34
Employees of the Pulkovo Observatory have already tried to deal with the project of continuous development of the Pulkovo Hills. Obviously, they were not heard, although it is perfectly clear that such a development would harm astronomical observations.
The area of the Kuzminka River and the Pulkovo Heights was the line of defense of Leningrad in 1941-1944, there are still a lot of unburied remains and unexamined shells. It is not clear how you can build there!
The historical natural landscape at the entrance to Tsarskoye Selo and the architectural and landscape dominant of the southern gate will be completely destroyed St. Petersburg- Pulkovo Observatory.
It was the calm natural landscape that prepared for the perception of the COUNTRY royal residence. What could be a suburban residence among high-rise buildings?
It seems that the population density of the villages around Tsarskoe Selo under Catherine II, to which the authors of the project refer, was much lower. The peasants lived by subsistence farming, worked in the surrounding fields, and rarely traveled to the city.
And how the two miserable roads to Pushkin will cope with the flow of residents, tourists, summer residents is a big question. Not to mention other infrastructure. There is no work in Pushkin, there will be no metro, and at least 3 more of the same cities are going to be built in the district.
Project declaration for the construction of a residential complex as part of a complex development of the territory
in the western part of the Pushkin district of St. Petersburg "On the Tsarskoye Selo hills".
Please note - the start of the project is March 2011!
Declaration published on June 2.
Following Setl Group, other developers are starting to develop areas adjacent to the intersection of Pulkovskoye and Volkhonskoye highways. In the foreseeable future, it is planned to build at least three more large residential complexes there. LIVING figured out the specifics of this place.
At the end of January, the Gradsovet reviewed a project for a low-rise block between Volkhonskoye, Kievskoye and Rekhkolovskoye highways. The sketch of the new microdistrict was made by Yuri Mityurev's Studio-AMM by order of Corporation Razvitie LLC. They plan to build over 70 hectares. 8 thousand people will be able to live on the territory. total area apartments will be 221.6 thousand square meters. meters.
First houses
Bye new project are being studied by architects, new housing is already being built in this area. Not far from the Pulkovo Observatory, the company is building. Initially, it was planned to build four blocks of low-rise buildings, but the project provoked protests from city rights activists. According to activists, the illumination from the new area would put an end to astronomical observations. After long disputes and courts, the project was nevertheless recognized as legal, but soon after this decision of the servants of Themis, the developer announced that the area of "Planetograd" would be reduced by four times. The decision was explained by the fact that they "went to meet the public."
LCD "Planetograd". Render from the developerSouth of Planetograd, at the corner of Pulkovskoye and Volkhonskoye highways, the company is preparing to build a multifunctional residential area... On a plot of 30 hectares, they want to build about 500 thousand square meters. meters of residential and commercial real estate... In addition to housing, there will be a shopping and entertainment center, a water park, a sports club, a business center and a hotel. The company reports that the project will be completed by 2024-2025.
A plot of about 200 hectares on the other side of Pulkovskoye Highway belongs to VTB Development. There, within the framework of the Yugtown project, they plan to build about 600 thousand square meters. meters of low-rise housing, designed to accommodate 20 thousand people. Another 510 thousand squares have been allocated for infrastructure - they promise to build three schools, seven kindergartens, clinics, a post office, three business centers and the Lenfilm Park cinema town. The latter will represent fake streets, stylized for different eras, intended for filming.
Pulkovo observatoryBetween Planetograd and Pulkovo Heights, on the site of a flower nursery, another residential project, the City of Flowers, was planned. The company "BKN-Development" was going to build there by 2020, 740 thousand square meters. meters of real estate. However, the developer later changed his mind and canceled the construction.
Unpleasant neighborhood
Of course, Pulkovo Heights is a very picturesque and convenient place. The park at the observatory, beautiful views of the city, 20 minutes by bus to the Moskovskaya metro station, the proximity of the Expoforum Exhibition and Convention Center - all this adds status to the place. But the planned residential development is concentrated a little to the south, where, with all the beauty described above, places are no longer so pleasant.
RC "Yugtown"Solid waste landfill "Yuzhny"
The famous South landfill, although it was closed in 2014, when its reclamation began, but, in fact, filling the smoldering garbage with earth, continues to live. Yuri Shevchuk, the chairman of the North-West interregional public environmental organization Green Cross, told LIVING that illegal dumps continue to grow around the landfill. Over the years, people have become accustomed to dumping garbage on the border of the city and the region, because it is convenient. The fact is that the border in this place goes in a zigzag manner and it is difficult to understand where the lands of which region are, and accordingly, it is difficult to find out who should deal with the "illegal" garbage.
Silt map
To the west, along Volkhonskoe highway, there is an operating sedimentation tank for the solid component of Vodokanal's wastewater - the so-called sludge map. At the last stages of water purification, a layer of silt is formed, which is transported to such hydraulic structures. There it dries up. When the wind blows, the "specific" smell from this process, mixed with the "aromas" of the landfill, is carried for many kilometers.
An airport
According to the Lenaeroproject Institute, a part of the Planetograd territory falls into a potential development restriction zone due to the impact of radiation from radars at Pulkovo Airport. The director of the ECOM center of expertise, Alexander Karpov, also carried out his own calculation of the radiation zone of one of the Pulkovo radars, based on the "Methodological guidelines for determining the levels of the electromagnetic field and hygiene requirements to the placement of VHF-, UHF- and microwave-radio technical means of civil aviation ". The results confirm that the locator can affect the built-up area. In addition, upon approval of the "Planetograd". The Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) expressed concerns that the development would interfere with the operation of the radars and affect flight safety.
Pulkovo airportEternity theme
Opposite the dump and the silt map is the South Cemetery. It is the largest in St. Petersburg and one of the largest in Europe. RC "Pulkovskie heights" and "Planetograd" will be located less than two kilometers from the graves. Of course, the neighborhood with the necropolis will not be able to affect the physical health of residents of new buildings, but funeral grooves constantly passing outside the window will hardly add joy to the life of an average man in the street.
In addition, on the territory of all three planned residential complexes in 1941-1944, the front line of the defense of Leningrad passed, there was a well-known height 66.6, for which especially heavy battles took place. For several years in Pulkovo about 300 thousand people died on both sides. The remains of the soldiers continue to be found there to this day.
“There is a lot of necro-background in this place, which greatly affects the people who live there. In a short period of time, a huge number of people died there as painful and violent deaths. It left an imprint on everything that is there, - says Yuri Shevchuk. - It is no coincidence that they have always tried to develop memorial parks in such locations, for example, the Green Belt of Glory runs along the Pulkovo Heights. These places have not been built up for a very long time. "