The alliance “Save the Cuckoo Forest” is starting a collection of signatures: It's about the supermarket plans in Steinebach.
Steinebach
- The criticism is not new.
Around a month ago, residents and nature conservationists demonstrated with large banners against the planned supermarket on Teilrain in Steinebach (we reported).
It shouldn't stop at a protest.
Yesterday an alliance called “Save the Cuckoo Forest” launched a petition to stop the project.
The Starnberg Mercury answers the most important questions.
What is it about?
The administration and the municipal council want to create the conditions for the construction of a new supermarket on the Teilrain.
In addition to the existing Edeka store at the sports field, it would be the second full-range supplier in Wörthsee.
A wooden building is planned with a floor area of 1470 square meters, of which 940 square meters are retail space and 100 square meters in the bakery, as Mayor Christel Muggenthal explains.
Several one to two-room apartments are to be built on the upper floor above the market.
According to Muggenthal, around 2000 of the existing 7000 square meters of the cuckoo forest must be felled for the project.
To compensate for this, a new beech forest is planned to be planted on the Ziegelstadel on an area of 2943 square meters.
What is the purpose of the referendum?
With this instrument, a group of citizens called “Save the Cuckoo Forest” wants to stop the planning.
The question raised by the referendum is: "Are you in favor of the Wörthsee community not creating any planning requirements for the planned new building of a full-range food store with apartments and therefore discontinuing the land-use plan procedure (...) and not pursuing it?"
Who is behind the “Save the Cuckoo Forest” alliance?
Heiko von Tippelskirch, Birgit Powell and Silvia Ullmann are named as representatives of the citizens' initiative, and Talal Al-Kass, Doja Muggenthaler and Michael Benzinger as their deputies.
It is a matter of "lots of individuals", says Muggenthaler in an interview with Starnberger Merkur.
What is the alliance criticizing?
In a press release, Al-Kass, Muggenthaler and Benzinger mainly cite nature conservation reasons, as well as traffic and climate issues.
The long-term ecological damage caused by the felling of old trees cannot be compensated for by the planned compensatory measures, they write.
In addition, a lot of the area is sealed and the landscape is "significantly impaired".
A shop with sustainable and fair products from the region is preferable to a supermarket.
If a second full-range supplier was still needed in Wörthsee, “a shop at the other end of the community would make more sense” than 1.2 kilometers from the existing Edeka.
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The supermarket is to be built using wood according to plans by the architect Professor Hermann Kaufer.
© Wörthsee municipality
How does the referendum work?
Those who support this goal are entered into a list of signatures.
These are available in four shops: the Saeed fruit and vegetable shop, Edeka Günl, the Wörthsee pharmacy and the nursery at Osterholz.
If you want to register yourself or collect your own signatures, you can also contact these e-mail addresses: al-kass@gmx.de, mb@michaelbenzinger.de and domuggenthaler@gmail.com
How many signatures are required?
In a municipality the size of Wörthsee, the quorum is ten percent of the electorate.
That would be exactly 404 valid signatures.
To be on the safe side, the alliance is targeting 500 signatures.
What happens when the quorum is met?
When the initiators submit the completed lists to the town hall, this information is checked.
In addition, the municipality has both the question and the reasoning checked legally.
On this basis, the municipal council must decide whether it considers the referendum to be admissible or not.
If the request withstands the legal examination, the municipal council can adopt its goals - then the planning would have failed.
Or he lets it depend on a referendum, in which all eligible voters can vote on the issue in a secret ballot.
What if the local council rejects the admissibility?
This is not a rare case.
In Starnberg and Herrsching, for example, city and local councils have considered petitions about the tunnel and the high school location to be legally inadmissible in recent years.
The initiators can complain against this.
In all cases mentioned, however, they lost in court.
Which deadlines have to be observed?
From a purely legal point of view, the initiators can take enough time to collect signatures.
In the current case, however, the alliance wants to have the 500 signatures collected by December 21.
Where does this rush come from?
The public display of the development plan runs until December 22nd.
Subsequently, planners and lawyers deal with the suggestions and objections made.
"After that, the local council can decide," says Mayor Christel Muggenthal.
“And I'm sure the local council will agree.
Then we would be ready for planning. "
What does the administration say about the referendum?
Muggenthal did not have the case yesterday.
However, she told Starnberger Merkur that many citizens wanted a second full-range retailer in the community.
In addition, the location was not determined arbitrarily, but after careful consideration and many discussions.
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