The locality of Szczytnica is divided into two parts: the village of Szczytnica and the housing estate attached to it, located on former Soviet military station grounds. The housing estate was transferred to Gmina Warta Bolesławiecka after 2000.
No one has invested in a medical clinic or pharmacy in Osiedle. Affordable housing attracts undesirable neighbors, while the lack of noise barriers along the motorway means residents complain about unbearable noise. The residents of Osiedle form a close-knit community that cares for one another and their place in the world, but they need support from the authorities.
Affordable housing has attracted many young people dreaming of a home of their own. Osiedle has an excellent location, and its population is growing (329 people in 2001, 939 in 2009, and 1,094 in March 2011). Students succeed at good schools, residents’ associations renovate neglected buildings, youth clubs are being created, and a chapel is being built through a joint effort for the faithful. Read the letter sent to us by the residents of Osiedle.
What do residents think about Osiedle Szczytnica?
The locality of Szczytnica is divided into two urbanized areas—the village of Szczytnica proper and the residential estate attached to it, located on land where Soviet troops were stationed until 1992. The housing estate was transferred to Gmina Warta Bolesławiecka after 2000. It lies approximately 2 km north of the parent village, hidden in forests adjoining the A4 motorway.
The nearby forests and excellent transport connections are precisely what make more and more people settle there. They are usually people who value peace and quiet and enjoy spending their free time in nature, but do not want to live in complete isolation in a house by the forest. The proximity of cities such as Bolesławiec and Legnica, as well as the economic zone, where finding employment is not a problem, makes it an excellent place to live. Many older residents of the estate moved there after retiring so they could live peacefully, without worrying about the hustle and bustle of the city or the need to work the land.
The number of residents in Szczytnica is steadily growing. Today, the population mainly consists of newcomers—people moving from nearby villages and towns; many have moved from Legnica, Wrocław and other cities, as well as displaced people from Yugoslavia, former Soviet countries and other, sometimes very distant, parts of Poland. By comparison, the number of permanent residents of Szczytnica was 329 at the end of 2001, 939 in 2009, and 1,094 at the end of March 2011. Each of these people arrived with their own life experiences. Szczytnica is rich in people.
People settling in the locality represent various social groups. The estate is inhabited primarily by families with children, young couples, teenagers, retirees and employees of the nearby economic zone. Before the estate was inhabited, the Primary School in Szczytnica was threatened with closure because of a steady decline in the number of children. Since mainly young people moved to the estate and the number of school-age children increased significantly, the school was saved from closure, and children from Szczytnica were not transferred to the Primary School in Tomaszów Bolesławiecki.
The number of pupils at the school is currently highly variable. For example, in the 2011/2012 school year, 62 children attended grades I–VI and 21 attended the preschool class, whereas in 2014/2015, 57 pupils were enrolled in grades I–VI and 18 children attended the “zero grade.” Taking the results of the sixth-grade test in 2015 into account, students from Szczytnica ranked third in the gmina, leaving behind the Primary School in Tomaszów Bolesławiecki and the School and Preschool Complex in Iwiny. Middle-school children also achieve good academic results and participate in and win competitions in various fields. Most young people from Szczytnica attend or have graduated from general secondary schools, technical schools or vocational schools. Residents are happy when their children leave for major cities to obtain higher education, and when they acquire an excellent profession at school and stay here with them. As a result, qualified hairdressers, mechanics and construction workers live nearby and are happy to help.
The Szczytnica estate has 27 multi-family buildings with varying numbers of apartments and eight buildings serving other functions, such as a shop or restaurant. Since 2005, residents’ associations have been established and have undertaken major renovations of their buildings, including preparing technical documentation, obtaining bank loans, and repairing roofs or insulating buildings. All renovation work benefits not only the residents’ comfort but also the estate’s appearance, which improves from year to year. Fourteen buildings have already been renovated, and another six are undergoing work. Renovations have also begun in four non-residential buildings. Unfortunately, four are in very poor technical condition—they stand there frightening residents and visitors—but they are privately owned, and no one can be forced to renovate them.
Szczytnica has no clearly defined center. There is a new, fully equipped village community center with catering facilities, an outdoor gym, a multifunctional sports field and a children’s playground next to the primary school. Since the end of 2010, the estate has had a Youth Club, for which a two-room apartment in a multi-family building was adapted. It contains nine computers and a pool table, while a table-tennis table was installed outside. In addition, two colorful and safe children’s playgrounds were recently built, and the youngest residents eagerly use them. The municipality’s implementation of these measures has improved the quality of life of the local community and encourages potential new residents.
In 2015, a Rural Housewives’ Circle was established on the estate, with 16 women and one man actively involved. It is based in the club’s premises. During meetings, the members make handicrafts—holiday decorations and more. The circle takes part in various county competitions and represents Gmina Warta Bolesławiecka. For the residents of an estate with such a large population, the Youth Club is not enough to foster integration within the community, but the municipal authorities have no plans to introduce other solutions.
The only near-term investment that will certainly benefit estate residents is the construction of a chapel for worship services, so they will not have to travel to the village. The parish priest of the Roman Catholic Parish of St. Hedwig of Silesia in Tomaszów Bolesławiecki and estate residents have been raising funds for construction for many years. Residents are building the church through their own efforts—the pouring of the foundations was recently completed. Construction work is scheduled to finish in 2016. It is worth noting that this event is important not only from a religious perspective but also socially, as a joint undertaking by the residents.
Children and teenagers living on the estate lack a sports field where they could spend their time actively. While older children can travel or walk to the field by the primary school, 2 km away, younger children who remain under their parents’ care have only the estate street or lawn on which to kick a ball.
As in every other locality, residents of Szczytnica also face various problems. First, the steady influx of people—often strangers who are initially unknown to residents, from different social, age and national groups—creates social problems. Residents want every newcomer to feel welcome on the estate, help their neighbors and actively participate in the life of this small community without harming it. Unfortunately, cheap and easily available housing also attracts undesirable neighbors who merely lie in wait for an opportunity to steal something or cause damage. This harms the estate’s reputation and decent residents, who are lumped together with antisocial elements.
Another problem frequently mentioned by Szczytnica residents is that there is no medical clinic or pharmacy outlet on site. Some are registered with a Private Medical Practice in Tomaszów Bolesławiecki, while most residents travel to Bolesławiec for medical assistance. Necessary medicines can only be purchased at a pharmacy in Tomaszów Bolesławiecki or Bolesławiec. The same applies to access to a dentist. This situation is most burdensome for families with small children and older people—those particularly in need of easily accessible medical care.
The next problem is that the estate lies very close to the A4 motorway, exposing residents to constant noise. Estate residents have repeatedly asked the municipal authorities to install acoustic barriers along the section of motorway that runs practically beneath their windows, but received a refusal. The obligation to install such barriers is imposed by the EU Directive of 25 June 2002 concerning the assessment and management of environmental noise. According to it, barriers must be erected along roads generating noise levels of 65 decibels during the day or 55 decibels at night. Interestingly, no one has even measured the noise level on the A4 section near the estate.
The last of the estate’s frequently cited problems is that it does not appear on most maps. The “Szczytnica” label identifying the locality usually refers only to the area of the parent village—whose main road runs parallel to the railway tracks—while the estate is not marked, even though administratively it belongs to Szczytnica. As a result, estate residents have major problems, especially with emergency services—most often ambulances—as well as delivery vehicles and courier deliveries reaching them. Maps have not been updated for more than a dozen years because the municipal authorities should contact the entities that produce maps so the change can be entered. It is also possible that the estate could begin functioning as a separate administrative unit and become independent of the village.
It should be emphasized that most residents feel safe on the estate. Increasing the number of police patrols does not increase residents’ sense of security. Contrary to appearances, such supervision may have the opposite effect. People who already have something on their conscience will certainly be more likely to complain about danger. People feel threatened when they live in an anonymous community—neighbors do not know one another or integrate, which is a common problem on residential estates. In addition, the physical space of the estate affects the sense of security—the surroundings in which people live, walk their dogs, go to the shop or head to the bus stop. Seeing an abandoned, intimidating building, peeling walls, broken windows, impassable thickets from which someone might jump out, or a dark, unlit street immediately intensifies our feeling of fear.
That is why the estate’s permanent residents try to care for it as best they can, so that everyone can live well. It is difficult to build an integrated community that has existed for only a dozen or so years, rather than for several decades like most localities in the region. We take inspiration from the residents of Lower Silesia, who were able to create a community after the war. Szczytnica is becoming increasingly attractive, and we feel at home there. The residents still have a long way to go toward a better future.