Oberhasling gravel pit: Irschenberg council rejects application from concrete company

Created: 01/28/2022, 07:00

By: Sebastian Grauvogl

This is what it could look like: a section through the planned gravel pit in Oberhasling gives an idea of ​​the dimensions of the quarry.

© Hafner Concrete

Many citizens no longer expected this: the municipal council of Irschenberg rejected the planned gravel quarrying in Oberhasling.

But can it really be prevented?

Irschenberg

– You were silent at the information event, and the next day you didn’t speak up in the municipal council either: Until the vote on the application from Hafner Beton on Wednesday evening, the citizens did not know how the elected representatives of the Irschenbergers felt about the planned gravel pit in Oberhasling . Accordingly, some of them looked surprised in the auditorium when Mayor Klaus Meixner (CSU) asked who agreed with the project: Except for Markus Nagele (non-party), no one raised their hand - not even Meixner.

The community agreement was thus denied, stated manager Irmgard Dinges matter-of-factly.

So there it was, the clear vote that the representatives of the citizens' initiative had wanted.

Even more: At the request of Florian Kirchberger (FDP/Active Citizens), the committee unanimously agreed to have every possibility of preventing or mitigating the gravel mining and its consequences examined.

And the remarks of the managing director should have corrected the impression made by many participants of the information event the day before.

Quite a few went home with the feeling that the town hall hadn't pulled out all the stops to keep the apparently impossible to prevent gravel quarrying away from Oberhasling or at least to limit its negative effects (we reported).

Municipality takes criticism seriously and reviews suggestions

Immediately after the exchange with the citizens, the municipal administration sat together with the municipal councilors "in a circle of chairs" in the gym for two hours - until 12:30 a.m. - to summarize the criticisms or suggestions made, reported Meixner.

The next morning they immediately went to the test.

Dinges added that there was now four to six weeks time for this before the district office came back to the community because of the failed agreement.

The manager already had an initial assessment of the points ready.

A number of tests and expert opinions are still pending, most of which would have to be carried out by the responsible specialist authorities.

For example, the question of a greater distance between the gravel pit and residential buildings and whether the planned construction of the earth wall is sufficient to shield off dust and noise and what is necessary to maintain the soil's ability to seep during heavy rain.

Also read: Citizens' initiative wants to prevent gravel mining

Together with the district office, road construction office and police, they will try to mitigate the negative consequences of truck traffic - especially on the way to school.

Dinges cited speed limits and pedestrian traffic lights as examples.

Furthermore, one will work on further arrival and departure routes to relieve Auerschmied.

It is also conceivable to use the so-called winter route as a shorter connection for empty truck journeys, although the existing tonnage limit would have to be adjusted for this.

One thing already assured: "We will exhaust all possibilities for relief."

Land use plan change could have undesirable consequences

According to Dinges, even the change in the land use plan put forward by the citizens' initiative to designate concentration areas for gravel extraction is not off the table. You can always follow up on the installation decision of the municipal council in July. "If that's what you want, we'll go after it." But nobody should have false hopes, warned the manager once again. "We're not allowed to do any preventive planning." Rather, a geological survey would reveal many suitable mining areas. If applications are then submitted, there is no longer any chance of rejecting them. "In the worst case, we'll tear open many other holes in Irschenberg," Meixner also feared.

Dinges pointed out that other legal avenues would not open up.

The right to property is a valuable good.

"Every meter that we take away from someone, we have to justify it in terms of urban development." That is not feasible in Oberhasling.

If you try it anyway, you have a norm control lawsuit on your cheek.

"And we lose that."

so called