This is the official Blog of the "Committee for Defending Piazzale Lavater", it contains all the information concerning how this small historical square in the city of Milano is in danger to be turned into a five-year construction area for building a gigantic parking. The square, with more than twenty centennial trees, is part of a nice boulevard complex, named a "Small corner of Paris"; the project puts the square's trees into danger of distruction, as escavators will cut their roots by escaving very close to them. Meanwhile, accesses to the parking in narrow streets and air pipes and grids all around will change forever the square's clean architecture. Inhabitants, including important characters of the city's cultural life such as Salvatore Accardo and Gillo Dorfles, are stroingly against the parking project. Fifty or more banners "Difendiamo Piazzale Lavater" hang from the windows in the square since about 8 months.
The Blog tells the story of the past five years of strenuous defense activity that the Committee was forced to put in action in order to defend the square against the blind and deaf City Administration, which has disregarded the will of the district inhabitants, and has recently undersigned an agreement with a private promoter. The Blog hosts tens of documents that show many voices and opinions agains the parking, expressed from within the various bodies which have examined it, even inside the City Administration.
Citzens have presented in 2009 a petition to the City Hall, signed by 2000 individuals and 85 commercial activities. After the city administration's agreement with the promoter, citizens collected again 2000 protest signatures in additional two petitions, directed to the President of the European Parliament and to the four relevant Italian ministries (internal, defense, culture, environment). The Committee has presented a number of technical documents, proving that the project violates the City's regulations about green spaces and fire prevention; and the Commitee filed since 2005 a number of legal documents, including two legal actions presented to the Italian Administrative Tribunal (TAR), which will be discussed in June.
The story of Piazzale Lavater is an example of how the current City Administration, and specifically the major Letizia Moratti, is not sensible to the will of its citizens. Many major parties and politicians expressed their opinion for defending Piazzale Lavater against the parking, including PD, FL, UDC, Lega Nord, 5 Stelle, Verdi. The Committee is not political and doesn't express political preferences, but has lost faith in the administration, after many lies and broken promises.
