Reykjavík delays withdrawal of land allocations

Reykjavík City Council has postponed a decision to withdraw land allocations granted to the Muslim Association of Iceland and the Russian Orthodox Church, mbl.is reported.

Mayor Hildur Björnsdóttir said the Muslim Association claimed it had not received a letter from Reykjavík City giving it an opportunity to object to the planned withdrawal. The council therefore delayed the matter until its next meeting on 1 October.

The Russian Orthodox Church will also be given an opportunity to submit objections, and both cases will be considered at the next meeting.

“The lawyer for the Muslim Association of Iceland contacted us and said that they had not received the city’s correspondence, even though it had been sent to them in a verifiable manner,” Björnsdóttir told mbl.is. “To be fair, we decided to give them time to submit objections.”

She said the city wanted to ensure that its procedures could withstand legal scrutiny before proceeding with the withdrawals and putting the plots to other uses.

The mayor said the city had reviewed plots that had remained vacant for a long time and where the original construction plans had not been fulfilled. Other recipients had also been contacted and asked to explain why construction had not begun.

“We will see further withdrawals of land allocations at upcoming meetings,” Björnsdóttir said. “We intend to step up housing and business development, and a good supply of land is one prerequisite for that.”