Gravel pit in Höhenkirchen: the municipal council agrees to the application for excavation and the contract

Created: 07/01/2022, 16:23

By: Stefan Weinzierl

Accusation at the district office: Before the decision was made in the municipal council, the citizens' initiative against the gravel mining once again sent a clear signal of protest.

© citizens' initiative

Even if the gravel pit in Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn can no longer be prevented, the municipal council wanted to write something in the applicant's register with an urban development contract.

Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn

– At least formally, the municipal council of Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn has given up its opposition to the planned gravel pit on the Muna site: the committee now voted with a large majority to grant municipal agreement on the application for an excavation permit.

Also in order not to jeopardize the urban development contract negotiated with the applicant, which is intended to minimize the burden on the citizens and prevent a gravel pit near the Leonhardikirche.

The contract, which was approved in the same breath, was "the least of all evils", not only Walter Kratschmann (AFW) found.

Criticism of the agreement with the entrepreneur

Three council members disagreed with the majority vote.

Karsten Voges (Greens) described the negotiated contract as a joke: "It's not worth the paper it's written on," was his devastating verdict.

Because the agreements with the entrepreneur were limited to things that he would do anyway for reasons of economy.

And the stipulated contractual penalties are a toothless tiger because they bear no comparison to the profit that the entrepreneur expects from the gravel pit.

He called for the application to be further rejected and thus to send a signal that gravel mining was not wanted.

Second gravel pit probably only leverage

His parliamentary colleague Janine Schneider also sees no great benefit in the contract.

The gravel mining in a field in the vicinity of Kirchenweg, which the entrepreneur initially requested, is nothing but an empty threat for them.

This second gravel pit, which in her opinion is hardly worthwhile for the entrepreneur due to its size, was only a means of exerting pressure.

Finally, Roland Spingler, who a few minutes earlier as parliamentary group leader on behalf of the CSU had spoken out in favor of approving the contract and the application for excavation ("We have to channel the greatest evil of gravel mining"), privately rejected this path.

One should have contested the legal action, he said and sharply criticized the district office, which had described the previous rejection of the project by the community as illegal.

With the decision to prioritize gravel quarrying, although the municipality wants to designate an industrial area in a sub-area in the land use plan, municipalities that plan for the long term are being punished.

Complaint plea ends in verbal battle

Spingler's and Voge's remarks drove Otto Bußjäger (UB) up the wall.

"A lawsuit is like Russian roulette - the only difference is that the magazine is full of cartridges," he said, noting that the agreements with the entrepreneur would immediately lapse if the municipality took legal action.

Spingler countered: "We are in a state governed by the rule of law, so a lawsuit is not Russian roulette."

Incidentally, the combination of a gravel pit permit and an urban development contract was only the second-best solution for fines hunters.

As his parliamentary group leader, Manfred Eberhard, had recently recalled, the Independent Citizens would have favored the establishment of a partial land use plan with the designation of concentration areas for gravel mining in order to "at least be able to control it and avoid unbridled exploitation in the long term".

Just one way of checking

SPD faction leader Anita Reiprich questioned the latter.

This way has a suspensive character, the disadvantages are serious.

Many gravel miners would "turn their eyes hungry" to the community after designating areas where gravel extraction is possible, she warned.

Her parliamentary group sees the only way to control the project in the contract, which among other things limits truck journeys and operating times in the gravel pit.

Ultimately, only the property owners could prevent such projects, Kratschmann concluded: "As long as there are no properties, there will be no gravel mining." Gudrun Hackl-Stoll (Greens), on the other hand, advocated maintaining the pressure on the federal and state governments , in order to push through a change in legislation - keyword prioritization - that curtails the rights of citizens and municipalities in such cases.