Gyeonggi Province North Branch Office Holds Residents' Representative Meeting on Plaza Development Project
On the 22nd, a meeting was held with nine resident representatives living near the North Branch Office, five provincial council members from Uijeongbu City, and approximately 20 civil servants from Gyeonggi Province and Uijeongbu City regarding the plaza development project at the North Branch Office.
Resident representatives in attendance shared a common view that while they understand the good intention behind developing the Gyeonggi North Branch Office plaza as a representative cultural and healing space for northern Gyeonggi, they raised concerns that the project is being pursued unilaterally without communication with local residents, despite the need to carefully consider potential negative outcomes, as exemplified by the Uijeongbu Light Rail case, and to thoroughly review how development could damage residents' quality of life.
In particular, regarding project changes involving the establishment of a bypass road and promotion as an integrated plaza, local residents unanimously expressed dissatisfaction over the installation of fencing on the front of the building and ongoing construction without their knowledge, while demanding an underground underpass rather than a new bypass road.
In response, Lee Jae-chul, Director of the Balanced Development Planning Division of Gyeonggi Province, explained that the front building construction is being pursued within the scope of plaza remodeling at the front that was previously decided through communication with local residents as part of the connected overbridge plaza development project, securing understanding. He also explained that an underground underpass cannot be implemented due to noise, dust, aesthetic damage, pedestrian bridge installation, and excessive project costs.
Regarding the bypass road establishment, Lee pledged that since many administrative procedures remain, including approval of shared property management plans and changes to district unit plans, public opinion surveys, urban committee review, and decision announcements, only the front building construction would proceed, while the bypass road section would be implemented after communication and consultation with residents.
To promote the project, Gyeonggi Province stated it will establish a 100-member civic committee to actively gather opinions through citizen participation and create communication channels, allowing participation in plaza design planning, and will strengthen functions to serve as a buffer between citizens and the province regarding resident opinion collection and delivery, conflict mediation, and operational direction consultation.
The civic committee will be composed of Uijeongbu citizens as the primary users, and will be selected through recommendations from Uijeongbu City and open recruitment, comprehensively considering regional characteristics, resident representativeness, age, and gender.