Peißenberg will not become a “sponge city” for the time being

Created: 02/19/2022, 12:00 p.m

By: Bernhard Jepsen

There isn't as much green everywhere in Peißenberg as in the picture of the entrance to the Guggenberg Tunnel in the direction of Hoher Peißenberg - that's about to change.

© Emanuel Gronau

The town hall administration should ensure that opportunities for inner-city flood protection are used in accordance with the "sponge city concept".

This was an application made by the Greens market council group at the most recent meeting of the Energy and Climate Committee.

The enthusiasm of the committee was limited.

Peißenberg

- The market town will probably invest around 20 million euros in the inner-city flood protection in the next few years.

The program includes, among other things, the expansion of water bodies in streams, the construction of retention basins and the piping of outflow bypasses.

In this respect, it came as a bit of a surprise that the Greens' market council group submitted an application entitled "Flood protection for Peißenberg through more efficient land use".

But the eco-party sees further possibilities for flood protection measures - beyond the structural measures.

"The potential of the local area to absorb water itself is not taken into account at all," wrote the author of the application, Annette Daiber, in the justification.

The Greens refer to the "sponge city concept" as a key component of their argument.

What does that mean?

Roughly speaking, that the local planning is designed in such a way that rainwater is no longer just channeled and drained, but is locally sucked up by green areas like a sponge.

As a result, as a Wikipedia entry was quoted in the application, "flooding during heavy rain events should be avoided, the urban climate improved and the health of urban trees promoted".

Specifically, the Greens outlined three fields of action - namely the greening of community-owned areas and buildings, the enactment of corresponding standards for new buildings and support for the redesign of private land.

The Greens' application was discussed in detail in the preliminary advisory energy and climate committee - and clearly rejected.

Mayor Frank Zellner (CSU) was "surprised" by the Greens' initiative and advocated "rigorously continuing" the planned structural flood protection measures and "not directing capacities to other things".

The head of the town hall also referred to the recently modified drainage statute, in which landowners are asked to hold back and throttle rainwater when new buildings are built.

"I'm wondering," says Zellner, "what's in the application that we're not already doing?"

Climate manager should take care of the matter

Bernd Schewe (SPD), on the other hand, only indirectly placed the application in the "flood protection" category: "It's about the microclimate!" In terms of content, quite interesting questions would be raised, which are also related to the SPD's application for the creation of a 3D model of Peißenberg (we reported) could link.

But: "I don't see the urgency of the application." Schewe was alluding to the planned hiring of a climate manager: "That would be his job.

We should give ourselves the time and wait until the future climate manager has drawn up concepts.”

Jürgen Forstner (Free Voters) also criticized the Greens' motion: "I can't really grasp what the whole thing is about.

I'm having a hard time with the application.” Above all, Forstner questioned the demand for the greening of house facades.

The town hall, for example, is insulated.

Subsequent greening is no longer possible there - moreover, the legal requirements, including the Energy Saving Ordinance (ENEV), would speak against it.

Matthias Reichhart (citizens' association) also lowered his thumb: "Is this an application for flood protection or for the redesign of the place because of climate change?"

According to Daiber, apparently both: "I'm negotiable with the headline.

I'm not stuck with flood protection." It's all about the climatic conditions in the place and the creation of framework conditions.

"There is still room for improvement in the land use planning," says Daiber.

The matter is a "question of good will", and it also takes imagination on the subject.

But at the end of the discussion, Daiber pulled the emergency brake herself: she withdrew the application with the announcement that she would submit it again in due course.

That will probably be after the climate manager has been hired and trained.

In the non-public part of the committee meeting, the procedure for filling vacancies was discussed.

Apparently, a preliminary selection of suitable candidates has already been made.