The City of Helsinki has in a surprise move decided to terminate the lease of the airport’s traffic area to Malmi Airfield Association at the end of 2019. “The City’s own use” has been given as the reason. According to the media, the initiative originates from the City’s top leadership. The City has communicated that residential building in the area is to begin in 2022 at the earliest. Even that would require that the decisions about the plans become legal quite fast.
The termination of the lease has come as a surprise and differs from earlier negotiations. An attempt will be made to renegotiate the matter with the City, as leaving the area empty is not in anyone’s interests.
A municipal initiative to be launched
Friends of Malmi Airport Association (FoMA) has decided to begin collecting signatures for organizing a municipal referendum about keeping Malmi Airport in aviation use. Several initiatives on the matter have been made in Helsinki City Council, but they have all been rejected.
The chairman of FoMA, Mr. Timo Hyvönen describes the background of the matter:
“When the latest initiative was discussed in the City Council, it was said that the initiative must come from the people, not from Councilpersons. So we decided to collect the required number of signatures for this initiative in order to finally have the voice of the people heard.”
The municipal initiative will be opened on the internet next week. FoMA will decide later whether to bring the initiative to the present or the next Council.
Many projects are underway
FoMA also scrutinizes the General Plan ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court and prepares actions on European level. A prohibition of endangerment is in effect in the area while FoMA’s protection proposal based on the Act on the Protection of Built Heritage is being processed in the Ministry of the Environment. Another protection proposal based on the Nature Conservation Act is in preparation.
A schematic of the projects
(in Finnish): http://www.malmiairport.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/malmistatus201812.png