Based in Jyväskylä, Finland, Toyota’s rally team already announced back in 2023 that it was planning to build a new technology centre with test tracks in the Majajärvi area, on the border between Jyväskylä and Laukaa.
The intention is to relocate all of Toyota’s WRC team operations to the new technology centre. However, the project has stalled due to a series of appeals.
Toyota has now received positive news, as the Hämeenlinna Administrative Court has rejected an appeal concerning the partial master plan and local detailed plan for the Majajärvi area.
The Jyväskylä City Council had already approved the zoning plans in December 2024, enabling the construction of the technology centre.
The zoning appeal was lodged by a group of seven individuals. The appeal was based on several environmental and nature conservation arguments, including the alleged bypassing of an environmental impact assessment procedure.
Toyota has not yet fully escaped the appeals process. Last autumn, the Vaasa Administrative Court rejected one appeal related to the environmental permit for Toyota’s technology centre and declined to examine an appeal submitted by a private individual regarding the same permit. That individual appealed the decision to the Supreme Administrative Court, where the case is still pending.
The Vaasa Administrative Court had earlier declined to consider the individual’s appeal on the grounds that the person does not live sufficiently close to the planned technology centre.
In addition to the technology centre, Toyota plans to build a two-kilometre test track at Majajärvi, along with a separate service building within the track area. The partial master plan concerns the test track itself, while the local detailed plan applies to the technology centre.
Toyota can now proceed to apply for a building permit for the technology centre, as the appeals related to the partial master plan and the local detailed plan have been dismissed.
In the future, Toyota intends to run its rally team operations from the Majajärvi area, located near the village of Leppävesi. Currently, the team’s headquarters are based in the Jyskä district of Jyväskylä.
