This step was to be expected: property owners and rights holders have filed a lawsuit with the Munich administrative court against the Unesco application of the district.
This is reported by the "World Cultural Heritage Interest Group".
The dispute revolves around a possible interference with property rights.
District
- The content of the press release, which the Murnau district and municipal council Rudolf Utzschneider (CSU) as spokesman for the “World Cultural Heritage Interest Group” sent to the editors by email yesterday, was no surprise.
The alliance, to which several hundred property owners and rights holders have come together according to their own statements, had already threatened several times to take legal action against the application of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district for the UNESCO World Heritage Site title.
Now the courts are actually being tried.
The names of the plaintiffs are not yet revealed
As Utzschneider reports, six victims filed a lawsuit yesterday. With the aim of obliging the district to refrain from the candidacy that has already been initiated in its entirety or at least in selected areas. According to Utzschneider, the Munich Administrative Court now has to deal with it. The local politician does not want to reveal the names of the complainants who turned on a law firm in the difficult case - in order to protect them from public pressure, as he emphasizes. Only this much: Your areas are extensive and representative of the entire district. He himself kept the option open to take legal action against the efforts for the world-famous label.
The plaintiffs are of the opinion, Utzschneider explains in the background, that the district is not authorized to include their areas in the area backdrop of the application without consent. “You see this as a property restriction,” says the Murnauer. An objection that has long been a source of controversy.
The “World Cultural Heritage Interest Group” is at the side of the plaintiffs, affirmed the CSU man, who feels the tailwind: “It is impressive how much encouragement and solidarity we receive on this issue.
The plaintiffs deserve great respect, and we support them with all means at our disposal. ”And how does he rate the chances that you will leave the field as winners?
"I do think that this is promising," says Utzschneider fiercely.
According to his research, it is a precedent.
Unesco project polarizes
The ambitious Unesco project polarizes: the proponents hope that the exclusive rating will primarily benefit local, small-scale agriculture. The critics, including Utzschneider and his colleagues, fear even more requirements, bureaucracy and paternalism, for example with regard to the maintenance and management of the areas.
Politicians were also divided.
In the end, however, the pro-camp prevailed in the district council.
And in September the almost 1,000-page application dossier, which had been prepared by the District Office, was sent to the responsible World Heritage Center in Paris.
In 2023, according to the timetable, the decision should be made as to whether the district may in future adorn itself with the World Heritage Seal.
The highly fragmented application area consists of a total of around 19,000 hectares.
The focus is on the unique cultural landscape with its meadows, pastures, moors and alpine pastures that are worth protecting.