Lake Medard near Sokolov will be accessible everywhere and to everyone

Medard, whose perimeter exceeds the length of ten kilometers, should be accessible to the public from any place after the two parallel paths have been circled. This will make Medard unique not only within the republic.

“The problem with many projects with a large body of water is that the land adjacent to the water sells best,” Pavel Poc, a member of the board of directors of Sokolovská uhelná, which is preparing the project, told Novinky.

“But then people can’t even walk around the lake or pond. We are here after a discussion with the management of the company, the shareholders came to the conclusion that the main idea of ​​this project will be the slogan: The shore belongs to everyone,” said Poc.

“If the project is implemented, it is stipulated that everyone will always walk around the entire water area of ​​Lake Medard,” added the member of the board of directors.

The plan was chosen among eleven so-called strategic projects in the Karlovy Vary region, which are to be financed from European subsidies for the fair transformation of coal regions.

The process of approving the project, whose implementation is expected to cost approximately seven hundred million crowns, is currently underway.

“If everything goes well, we could have a final decision sometime in March, and I hope it will be positive, because everywhere we presented it, it was received positively, including, for example, Brussels in Belgium,” stated Poc.

“We believe that the first withdrawal of money will take place sometime next year. The project preparation will probably start even before we have a decision on the implementation of the project,” he estimated and reminded that the condition for drawing subsidies is the implementation of the entire plan by the end of 2027.

The project is divided into stages, but it is possible that due to the time requirement, it will be built all at once.

“Part of the strategic project are two parking lots, each for roughly two hundred passenger vehicles plus several buses,” said Poc, adding that one will be near the village of Habartov and the other near Svatava.

“The project also includes two trails, one of which will be a bike trail and an in-line trail. Since it will be made of asphalt, it will also serve for an integrated rescue system. And all this with public lighting or buttons on lamps to call for help,” described Poc.

“There will also be educational elements where we will educate, for example, about history, climate change or biodiversity. There should be a small but multifunctional building next to each parking lot, which will serve as a social facility with toilets and the possibility to wash,” said Poc.

“A mini-museum should also be created in the Habart part of the building. And we want a lookout point to be created there, because there is a wonderful view of the lake from the Habart side,” continued the chairman of the board of directors.

“On the Svatava side, Svatava and the city of Sokolov were interested in presenting some of their issues. We need to have some background for administration and service there, because the project must be maintained for at least ten years,” he added.

According to him, the integrated rescue entrance reserved entry into the water there, if they needed to enter the water with a boat, for example.

Part of the plan is one more circular accompanying trail intended for pedestrians, so that mothers with strollers do not have to be between cyclists and skaters.

“So there will be two circuits and they will run side by side at the same time. The circuits should be accompanied by other elements, where there should be a bridge in one place, where one would walk over the water, and in one place there should even be a circular communication on pilings above the water,” described Poc.

“There should be a kind of reverse lookout where it will be possible to look under the surface with a periscope to see what the fish are doing there,” he added, adding that there should be various stops along the way where picnic areas should be created.

“It would be possible to stop there and make a fire there and roast something there or just eat or have a snack,” said a member of the board of directors.

“There will definitely not be any simple children’s playgrounds on the route, where, for example, there is also a rope center. The project should probably also include a root treatment plant, namely in the place where mine waters drain to the surface,” Poc pointed out.

“However, it is also planned to build stairs to the petrified trees, which should finally be accessible to the public between Svatava and Habartov,” concluded Poc.