Residents Visit District Office to Protest Neighboring Redevelopment: “Our Senior Center Is Being Taken, and a Religious Facility Is Planned Along an Elementary School Route”

[Financial News] Opposition is growing after the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s redevelopment plan for Macheon District 1 incorporated the neighboring apartment complex’s senior center and management office sites into a road and effectively blocked its rear entrance. A religious facility is also scheduled to be built directly in front of the main entrance, prompting residents to complain of threats to residential and pedestrian safety and violations of their property rights. They have even filed an administrative lawsuit.
On the 16th, Macheon Woobang residents protested in front of Songpa-gu Office, demanding, "Withdraw the road plan that forcibly demolishes our senior center" and "Take responsibility and resolve the religious-facility site at the complex’s main entrance." Macheon Woobang is a 247-household complex adjacent to Macheon District 1, where redevelopment is underway.
Residents’ biggest concern is that essential communal facilities at the existing apartment complex have been included in the road plan. The proposed amendment to the Macheon District 1 redevelopment promotion plan, announced by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on May 28, incorporates approximately 200 square meters containing Macheon Woobang’s management office and senior center into the site of an alternative road for Seongnaecheon.
The management office and senior center are auxiliary facilities that residents use in their daily lives. However, residents claim they were not given an explanation or asked for consent before the facilities were incorporated into the road plan, and that no replacement sites have been provided.
■Rear entrance would cut off emergency access
Access conditions would also change significantly if the project proceeds as planned by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Macheon Woobang currently allows vehicles and residents to enter and exit through both its main and rear entrances, but construction of a park directly in front of the rear entrance would completely sever its connection to external roads.
In particular, the road in front of the rear entrance was donated by Woobang Apartment when it was completed to connect the rear entrance to the main road. Residents are protesting that the road created to provide access to the existing complex would be cut off by the neighboring redevelopment project.
Residents have also raised safety concerns in emergencies. One resident interviewed at the complex said, "If a fire breaks out, fire engines and ambulances need to enter through here, but emergency vehicles will have difficulty getting in," adding, "Who will take responsibility if we miss the golden hour?" Residents explained that blocking the rear entrance could also restrict access for large vehicles, including moving trucks.
■After lawsuit, officials say they are considering excluding some sites
Residents formed an emergency response committee and took legal action, including filing an administrative lawsuit against the Seoul Metropolitan Government seeking to cancel the decision to amend the redevelopment promotion plan. A committee official said, "After discovering the issue, we hurriedly filed the lawsuit in June, and the district office and redevelopment association now appear to be considering excluding some sites from the plan," adding, "But we cannot trust them because there has been no definite response in writing or otherwise."
The issue of accommodating students also remains unresolved. Residents argue that measures must be prepared for the increase in elementary school students, as a large complex with 3,113 households is set to be built in Macheon District 1.
In 2019, the Gangdong-Songpa Office of Education raised the possibility that Namcheon Elementary School might need additional expansion, but no additional school site has been secured. A committee official said, "The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the district office are actively pursuing redevelopment and reconstruction to expand housing supply, but they must not infringe on the living areas and property rights of existing residents in the process," adding, "If they fail to find a way to coexist, it will not only be us who suffer; all Macheon-dong residents, including association members, will be affected."
A Songpa District official responded to the residents’ demands, saying, "We conveyed the matter to the association and plan to proceed with the project after reviewing ways to ensure that the alternative road does not encroach on Macheon Woobang Apartment’s site." Regarding the administrative lawsuit, the official said, "If the Seoul Metropolitan Government asks us to participate as an assisting party, we will cooperate and respond accordingly." The district office is reportedly acknowledged during a meeting with residents that day that there were problems involving the road incorporation and other matters. A committee official said, "The district office responded that it would review the issues we raised in a forward-looking manner." 
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