Messe München actually had big plans in Feldkirchen for “Bauma 2022”.
Because of the losses, she now has to plan smaller.
The Feldkirchner building committee gave the green light.
Feldkirchen
– Messe München is doing poorly financially, in 2020 and 2021 it lost a total of 140 million euros.
In order to earn money, they rely on the "Bauma" in October of this year and for this they want to convert the multifunctional area on Münchner Straße in Feldkirchen into a bus parking lot with a temporary bridge.
Despite major concerns, the Feldkirch construction committee agreed.
In October 2020, the municipal council approved the use of a 66,000 square meter field on Feldkirchner Flur as a parking lot for "Bauma".
The world's largest trade fair with 620,000 visitors and 1000 buses a day was supposed to take place in April.
It was postponed to October 2022 because of the pandemic.
“Urgently need this parking lot for the buses”
Three top-class representatives of Messe München have now asked the building committee for a concession. "We didn't expect to get so many registrations for the fair," said Fair Managing Director Reinhard Pfeiffer. All available exhibition space is fully booked. "That's why we urgently need this parking lot for the buses." His managing director colleague Stefan Rummel had to admit: The trade fair lacks the money to realize the plans from 2020. "We had a profit of 60 million euros in 2019, then our business collapsed completely due to Corona," says Rummel. The trade fair therefore had to lay off a quarter of the employees, reduced the management from six to two, and had a loss of 70 million euros in 2020 and 2021.
Feldkirchen is therefore asked to open the area for buses and a temporary bridge over Ottendichler Straße.
Due to the financial problems, the planned three bridges for cyclists and pedestrians over the A 94, the Munich and Ottendichler Strasse cannot be completed.
The extension of the Riemer Gangsteig as a paved cycle and footpath to the Riemer Landscape Park will not be built either.
It should start within two weeks
Landscape architect Andrea Gebhard explained that if the municipality agrees to the bus parking lot, the fair would begin in two weeks with clearing the field, temporarily storing the red area, establishing a nutrient-poor grassland and relocating the skylark. A temporary metal pedestrian bridge is to be erected over Ottendichler Strasse, which will be dismantled after the trade fair. "But we want to complete everything as planned in 2023," said Betina Selzer from the trade fair.
Stefan Seiffert (CSU) could understand the financial problems of the trade fair, but he still wanted to know: "Who will tell us that everything will actually be realized for the next Bauma 2025 and that a temporary bridge will not be built - because our parking lot has already been converted? His parliamentary colleague Herbert Vanvolsem only agreed to the concept of the fair because the municipality also received a lot for it: "Trust is good, contracts are better - without a contract I do not agree." Brigitte Pfaffinger (SPD) said that she would not become a "member of the emergency community with the fair”. You expect total traffic chaos in Feldkirchen, because the traffic planning is completely different than originally thought. "There will be traffic chaos one way or the other - if they now convert the field into ecological lean grassland, we will benefit from it,"replied Daniel Golibrzuch (UWV).
Against Pfaffinger's vote, the building committee only approved the trade fair application for "Bauma 2022".
More news from Feldkirchen and the district of Munich can be found here.