Justice minister: Maarjamäe is an inappropriate place for a football pitch

Minister of Justice Maris Lauri (Reform) has promised to study the legal possibilities to prevent a football field from being built close to the Memorial to the Victims of Communism at Maarjamäe.
In an interview with ERR's Estonian news portal on Thursday, Lauri said: "In my opinion, this is an absolutely inappropriate place to play football. There was an agreement that an administrative building could come there. But the football field is definitely not suitable for that."
She said she hopes that Tallinn fulfills its agreement and looks for another place where the football pitch could be built that FC Levadia finds suitable.
"We are looking at legal options for master planning issues and other such things," she added. "We can't go into real details at the moment. But to my knowledge, it is still possible to slow it down."
FC Levadia's plans would see a training hall and pitch built close to the Memorial to the Victims of Communism in Maarjamäe. Due to its proximity to the memorial, near Pirita, the plan has proved controversial.
Both the hall's profile and its effect on the memorial's landscaping, as well as potential noise when training sessions were taking place, have been a cause for concern.
Earlier this week, Tallinn said the plans could go ahead after they were shelved last year after the government became involved.
Lauri said permission had initially been granted to build the club's administrative center at Maarjamäe and the pitch elsewhere.
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Editor: Helen Wright