The municipality must adopt the general plan by June 30, 2026. What if it doesn't make it in time?

• - If the commune fails to adopt the general plan on time, it will face planning paralysis in terms of adopting local plans and issuing decisions on development conditions - says Piotr Jarzyński, a lawyer from the Jarzyński & Partners Law Firm, an expert of the Real Estate Committee of the Polish Chamber of Commerce.
• Municipalities that do not adopt a general plan by 30 June 2026 will also face other consequences - they will not be able to obtain funding for its preparation and adoption.
• Małgorzata Pachecka, mayor of the Michałowice commune, emphasizes that the swift adoption of a general plan is crucial in this commune, given the expectations of residents who want to limit sprawl, including in riverside areas. Obtaining funding for the preparation of the general plan is a secondary concern.

Under the 2023 amendment to the Spatial Planning and Development Act, every municipality in Poland is required to adopt a general plan , a new planning document replacing the study of conditions and directions of spatial development. Municipalities have until the end of June 2026 to do so. However, there is a shortage of urban planners on the market, and tenders are sometimes held when no potential contractor for the general plan submits an offer or their bid exceeds the municipality's budgeted amount. So what happens if a municipality fails to adopt a general plan on time?

One of the consequences of failing to adopt the general plan by the set deadline, i.e. by the end of June 2026, will be a slowdown in construction development.

If a commune fails to adopt a general plan on time, it is at risk of planning paralysis in terms of adopting local plans and issuing decisions on development conditions - unless local plans are adopted for the entire or a major part of the commune and they do not need to be amended

- says Piotr Jarzyński, lawyer from the Jarzyński & Partners Law Firm, expert of the Real Estate Committee of the Polish Chamber of Commerce.

As he explains, studies of conditions and directions of spatial development are valid until the date of entry into force of the general plan of the municipality in a given municipality, but no longer than until June 30, 2026. Therefore , the consequence of the failure of the general plan of the municipality in a given municipality to enter into force by June 30, 2026 will be, among other things, the impossibility of adopting local spatial development plans , with exceptions provided for in the amendment (e.g. before the date of expiry of the study, the date of making it available for public review was announced or the commencement of public consultations on the draft local plan or its amendment was announced; the local plan or its amendment concerns only the location of public purpose investments).

Moreover, the expert emphasizes that determining the location of a public investment or issuing a decision on development conditions upon an application submitted after July 1, 2026, will be impossible if a municipal general plan has not entered into force in a given municipality . In the event that the application concerns land located in more than one municipality, the municipal general plans have not entered into force in those municipalities. This condition does not apply only to closed areas.

Lawyer Piotr Jarzyński points out that previously adopted local plans will remain in force in a given area until their amendments or new local plans come into effect. This means that municipalities, which are largely covered by local plans, will not face planning paralysis, even if they fail to adopt a general plan in time.

The consequences that municipalities will have to face if they fail to adopt a general plan in time are not limited to the inability to issue zoning permits or adopt local plans. Another factor that warrants urgency is finances.

Municipalities that do not adopt a general plan by June 30, 2026, will not receive funding for preparing and adopting a general plan . Those that do meet this deadline may apply for reimbursement of some of the costs associated with developing the general plan.

Municipalities can receive funding for the preparation and adoption of a general plan through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (KRP), which is open until June 30, 2026. The funding amount is calculated individually for each municipality. Applications must be submitted via the CST2021 system in the WOD2021 application. The condition for receiving funding is the publication of the general plan in the voivodeship's official journal .

For example, the development of a general plan costs approximately PLN 130,000 for the town and commune of Kamionka, approximately PLN 190,000 for the commune of Grudziądz, and PLN 380,000 for the town and commune of Stargard.

The call for applications until the end of June 2026 and the requirement of publication in the official journal mean that municipalities that fail to meet the deadline will not be able to obtain funding from the KPO for the preparation and adoption of the general plan.

- We are at an advanced stage of developing the general plan in the municipalities because we want to adopt it by June 30, 2026 and thus recover the money related to the development of the general plan from the National Reconstruction Plan - says Tomasz Kucharski, Mayor of the City and Municipality of Olsztyn.

"Our municipality isn't driven by financial concerns, and that's not why we started preparing a general plan. We want to adopt a general plan because we simply need it. Completing the general plan will allow us to protect the areas from sprawling development. As a municipality bordering Warsaw, we struggle with issuing development permits, which we are required to issue, but not necessarily willing to do so. The 2011 study of conditions and directions of spatial development currently in force in the municipality is a proper study, but according to the 2023 amendment, it will expire on June 30, 2026," says Małgorzata Pachecka, Mayor of the Michałowice Municipality.

She emphasizes that when she first ran for office in 2018, she campaigned on the idea of limiting warehouse and industrial development near single-family homes . The goal is also to avoid terraced housing with small plots in the commune. Currently, 98 percent of the development in the Michałowice commune is single-family housing. Residents, both in 2018 and now, prioritize preserving riverside areas as open spaces accessible to residents.

"I made this promise to my voters in 2018, and I'm keeping it. The general plan will allow us to protect the interests of our residents. This is our priority, not the funding for its adoption from the NWP. We want to preserve the character of a rural commune, not pursue suburbanization. For this reason, as soon as the implementing regulations were published, which allowed us to begin creating the general plan, our commune got to work quickly. We are developing the general plan in our commune using our own resources," emphasizes Małgorzata Pachecka.

Public awareness doesn't facilitate the timely adoption of general plans. Residents realize they must act to preserve the value of their land, which is why they submit applications for zoning permits, applications for study amendments, and applications for general plans . Consequently, municipalities are overwhelmed with their analysis.

Municipalities will be required to review all applications for development conditions submitted before the study expires. Many have already submitted such applications, and more will likely follow. Municipalities face a significant workload due to the exponential growth in applications and limited resources , which are related, for example, to the availability of urban planners. They must simultaneously work on the general plan if they want to meet the deadline set by the legislature.

- emphasizes lawyer Piotr Jarzyński.