Gravel mining in the Rothschwaiger Forest is approved.
But there is still a chance to prevent the encroachment on the forest by means of a kind of exchange of land.
Fürstenfeldbruck
- The outcry was clearly audible when the plans for an expansion of the gravel pit in the west of Bruck seemed acute last year.
City council members were active across the parliamentary groups to avert mining in the Rothschwaiger Forest south of the existing mine.
An alliance of representatives of city politics and environmental associations was founded.
The Brucker Greens started an online petition, but also signaled their approval for a proposal by the CSU to make a replacement area available through negotiations.
Soon it was said that there was an alternative.
If landowners and the authorities were to play along, the pit could be expanded to the east towards the outskirts instead of south into the forest.
City negotiates with landowners
The mine operators have indicated their willingness to support the plan. "But we are staying out of the negotiations," said Thomas Vilgertshofer, one of the managing directors of the mine operator KRO Kiesgrubenrecycling Oberbayern, recently to our newspaper. So the city has to convince the landowners in the east. Mayor Erich Raff (CSU) and the city administration do not want to say how things stand, with reference to ongoing negotiations. According to the city, the mayor is in close contact with the owners.
From other sources it is said that we are making quite good progress. And the operating company KRO can still mine gravel within the framework of older permits. This is also a negotiating success of several city council members who were apparently able to convince a property owner to provide space for it.
One is "still open to switch to alternative areas," says Vilgertshofer, although he now has the necessary approval from the district office for the 15 hectare expansion to the south.
He won't wait forever.
In November the city council said they had about a year to make the alternative space available.
According to the mining permit, KRO is only allowed to dig up gravel in the first of three mining sections until 2025.
On the other hand, KRO could only apply for an excavation permit in the east once the legal planning has been set.
Areas were determined in 2012
The current pit and the southern extension that has now been approved together form the circumference of the gravel priority area 601 specified in the regional plan. At the same time, the area is specified in the city's land use plan as a concentration area for gravel mining. The definition as a priority area means that no other use that would hinder gravel mining is permitted in the area. The designation as a concentration area means that gravel may not be extracted anywhere else in the vicinity.
For the expansion to the east, the city would either have to redefine the perimeter of the concentration area or remove the definition entirely. However, lifting it could allow other - unwanted - mining projects in the area. And a redefinition of the boundaries in the zoning plan would require a previous redefinition of the priority area. Because concentration areas are only possible in priority areas. The city has no control over their re-designation. The Regional Planning Association Munich (RPV) is responsible for this, the amalgamation of 185 municipalities in the Munich planning region.
The current coverage of priority area 601 was laid down in the regional plan in 2012.
The city itself had worked towards this at the RPV.
In this way, it was able to define the concentration area in its current coverage and thus avert the expansion of gravel mining to the east in the direction of the B 471 and the outskirts of the city, which the mine operator at the time had planned.
Regional plan: City must apply
Over the years, however, the Bruckers and the city council grew in appreciation of the Rothschwaiger Forest.
It is a popular local recreation area.
It has developed from a spruce to a mixed forest and is now regarded as ecologically valuable.
Therefore, the expansion of the pit to the areas to the east - fields and previously damaged forest - now appears to be the lesser evil.
However, the RPV will not deal with the priority areas in the region again anytime soon. As a rule, the regional plan is only revised and updated every ten years. That happened last in 2019. A consideration of the chapter mineral resources is not indicated "before the year 2025", the RPV informs on request. Changes out of sequence are possible. For this, however, “there must be special reasons,” according to the RPV.
If the city requests a change, it would have to be decided by the RPV planning committee, which meets about four times a year. Changing the zoning plan would also take time. There are interpretation periods in which those affected can submit comments. Some things could run in parallel, it was said last year. The city administration is currently also leaving unanswered the question of whether the relevant steps are already being prepared.
