TRIESTE – With Bill 71, which sets out urban-planning rules for logistics developments and also draws on the Lombardy Region’s experience, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region will take responsibility for projects relating to logistics hubs with a usable area of more than three hectares.
The procedure, due to be voted on at the end of February by the Regional Council, provides for joint planning with local authorities, as a safeguard for local communities.
This was explained today by Cristina Amirante, Regional Councillor for Infrastructure and Territory, during the hearing in the 4th Committee of the Regional Council on Bill 71. The meeting was attended, alongside the Friuli Venezia Giulia network of ports and inland terminals, by representatives of all the economic and productive categories from trade, services, industry, and the transport, logistics and supply-chain sector.
During the discussion, virtually unanimously, participants acknowledged the merit of introducing a framework for a strategic area of regional development, particularly with regard to limiting land take and rationalising and strengthening Friuli Venezia Giulia’s logistics platform. Tomorrow, the measure will return to the 4th Committee for examination and discussion aimed at approval.
«The bill is urban-planning and programmatic in nature: it concerns territorial planning together with municipalities, based on shared general principles. It is not a building regulation and it is not an authorisation rule» Amirante said in her remarks.
The proposal sets out specific limits and requirements to protect the territory. Promoters will be required to submit detailed documentation, including a business plan and a traffic impact assessment. This is complemented by regional assessments of environmental and landscape aspects, including in relation to the mitigation and compensation works envisaged, as well as specific review activities that the new rule assigns to the Region and which until now had not been regulated.
«This is», the councillor added, «an additional safeguard for local communities. For developments above three hectares, planning will take place in a coordinated form between the Region and municipalities, while for smaller areas competence will remain with local authorities».
The aim, Amirante said, is to ensure that private initiatives relating to major logistics developments—including any data centres—are implemented in line with regional strategies, avoiding situations where municipalities have to face high-impact decisions on their own. The new law introduces uniform criteria and guidelines for the territorial planning of logistics developments of regional relevance, in line with orderly land-use governance, environmental and health protection, and consistent with the goals of limiting land take and promoting urban regeneration.
