Democracy Triumphs in Liepāja: City to Spend Ten Days Deliberating the Fate of One Tree

While Riga cuts down entire avenues without asking questions, Liepāja has launched a true democracy festival — the city will spend ten days deliberating the fate of one tree. At the intersection of Riņķu and Kviešu streets grows a horse chestnut with a 1.5-meter trunk circumference that has suddenly become a matter of national importance.

The Building Authority announced that the tree is preventing the construction of a sidewalk that meets regulations. It's like saying that Liepājas Metalurgs fans are blocking other spectators' view of the game — technically true, but life is more complicated than that. The designers from the Riga company "Evolution Road" apparently didn't account for the fact that trees are taken seriously in Liepāja.

Now residents can fill out a questionnaire on the e-services portal or head to 5 Peldu Street to express their opinion about this 1.5-meter diameter dilemma. The Landscaping Oversight Committee will then make the final decision, as if we were talking about adopting the state budget.

One local commenter noted: "In Riga they would have cut it down long ago and then asked if anyone had objections. But we are Liepāja — we have time for democracy." Especially in March, when it's minus five outside and nobody wants to stand by a clipboard on the street studying the tree's biography.