Monza: the Royal Palace’s golf partner? “Two Years and Decommissioned”

“What is going on at the racetrack and golf in the Royal Park of Monza?” is the question from which they start Committee for the Antonio Cederena Park and the committee The Royal Villa is mine too – with a series of other acronyms in support – to ask once again what is happening during the works on the national circuit and to reiterate its position in front of the new project for the management of golf: returning the area to the citizens, as it was before the arrival of golf itself.

“This is what the citizens and visitors of the Park are asking, alarmed by the large movements of earth, concrete, asphalt and cutting of trees for the renovation of the racetrack and by the silence on the concession of the almost 95 hectares given for exclusive use to the Milan Golf Club, which has expired and extended several times” they add, complaining not only about the poor quantity (and quality) of news coming from official channels but also the difficulty of accessing public documents – a problem which in recent months has also been raised by political benches, resulting in a complaint to the TAR.

Monza: the Royal Palace’s golf partner? The access to documents node

“The same possibility of having reliable data through the right to access administrative documents from citizens and associations, required by law, often does not find a response and this precludes the possibility of knowing with certainty what is happening and acting accordingly. We talk about the right to active participation of citizens through the transparency of administrative acts, but in reality it is not guaranteed for fear that they may not share choices that conflict with the protection of the monumental complex. It has happened many times: just think of the recent Rallies and Trame di Luci” underline the committeeswhich are targeting the works at the racetrack (“una pouring asphalt and concrete without knowing anything about the authorizations, the assessment of the impact on the protected area, even the mandatory indications relating to the construction site”) but above all the expression of interest in golf.

The Citizen has told the point at length. Now the committees are targeting the public partnership project (il Consortium) and private (the Golf clubs), a private management proposal accepted by the Royal Palace which will go to tender as required by law: if someone comes forward with an improved proposal compared to the one formulated by the current manager, the partnership will be theirs, otherwise it will go to the Milan Golf Club.

Monza: the Royal Palace’s golf partner? Why not to partnership, for the committees

The committees report that “the annual fee of 700 thousand euros, only 100 thousand euros more than the previous one; the low fee would be justified, according to the proponent Golf Club Milano, by the commitment to valorising the clubhouse inside the facility, whose proceeds go to the company itself and which is for the exclusive use of golf members; duration of the concession of 7+7 years, overall equal to the previous one; maintenance and redevelopment of the arboreal heritage with obligation to annual tree planting for at least 30 thousand euros, similar to the provisions of the art. 10 of the previous concession, disregarded in fact given that, according to the concessionaire’s declaration, the plants are all dead – unlike those planted in other areas of the city which are beautiful and lush – and have not been replaced; commitment to obtaining the environmental sustainability certification Geothe lack of which, already based on the previous concession (art.12), would in itself have constituted a reason for termination of the contract starting from the second year”.

Moving on to the news: “The complex can also be used by non-players on the days established by the dealer; shape of pejorative governance of the concession consisting in a so-called special public-private partnership which essentially abolishes the distinction between the granting public body as a strategic decision maker and guardian of the public interest, and the private dealerleft free to mistake the protection of their interests for valorisation: it is no coincidence that the suggestion of the special public-private partnership came from the latter”.

“The Management Board has adopted the direction of the concessionaire by only moving forward timid requests including that of greater public use that includes free access to fountain of the Pelucca canal, the subject of a request from several parties, to be separated from the concession for reasons of public interest and study” the civic representatives further note. “For some time, successive administrations have been asked, also through the collection of thousands of signatures, not to renew the concession, freeing up almost 95 hectares of park taken away from public use and granted for exclusive use to a few hundred fee-paying members. registration with the management company. One of the reasons given is the collection of the fee, the income of which could be replaced by seeking less shameful solutions than that of alienating a significant portion of the monument to raise revenuefor example by committing the ministry to the allocation of stable funding to the budget of Villa and Park, at least equal to that already granted to the Monza and Imola racetracks”.

Monza: the Royal Palace’s golf partner? Goodbye in two, three years, say the committees

For the committees, the end of the concession could have been an opportunity to return the 95 hectares of park to the citizens by taking them away from golf (but it should be remembered that the master plan, which nevertheless remains an official reference document, speaks of subsistence and of golf and of a racetrack) and furthermore, we read in a note, of “replanting a large forest that has been culpably razed to the ground”, of stopping “an enormous and useless waste of water and the use of chemical substances to keep an artificial sediment alive”, even to pave the way “for the inclusion of the monument among the heritage UNESCO world heritage site“.

And so, the committees relaunch the proposal from last December: “Return the historic greenery of the Monza Park occupied by golf to public use open to all, giving the current concessionaire a maximum period of 2-3 years which cannot be extended, at the end of which the definitive disposal and release of the area and the structures to the Consortium“. And then, to make the rent more expensive and in the meantime to carry out a redevelopment project for the area “inspired by the original design”.