Schwabsoien wants to tap wind energy

Created: 10/31/2022, 4:00 p.m

By: Theresa Kuchler

Town hall chief Manfred Schmid answered questions from the citizens of Schwabsoien.

© Theresa Kuchler

At the citizens' meeting in Schwabsoien, the head of the town hall, Manfred Schmid, took a look at what has been occupying the community in recent months.

And he talked about the future.

Wind power will soon play a major role.

Schwabsoien – Mayor Manfred Schmid didn't want to spend too much time on numbers on the evening of the citizens' meeting.

The approximately 70 guests who were seated in the Schwabsoien community hall were able to look at the data on the budget report and population development in the form of handouts and take them home with them.

So the head of the town hall, who had answered questions from the citizens of Sachsenried the night before, quickly entered the agenda - and started straight away with a serious topic.

Death, destruction and expulsion in Europe, people in Schwabsoien would like to help

"For eight months there has been death, destruction and expulsion in Europe," said Schmid in a firm voice.

With the beginning of the war in the Ukraine, many people lost their homes - and also sought protection in Schwabsoien.

In order to help the refugees, the upper floor of the Gasthof zur Post was prepared in March and April and brought "in top condition", said Schmid.

Three mothers and four children from the Ukraine were able to move into the newly renovated apartment in May.

19 Ukrainians currently live in the village.

Some of the newly arrived children attend the community kindergarten.

Space has been getting scarce here for quite some time.

A new building is therefore "urgently necessary", explained Schmid.

"From 2023 we will probably have to switch to a container solution."

Tough negotiations with the church about land

The community actually had hopes that progress would be made on “Beim Bauernwirt”.

A new day-care center would also be planned on the property, which, as is well known, belongs to the church and which the congregation wants to build on.

However, it seems that the project is still a long way from an agreement.

"It took until a week ago for the Bishop's Finance Commission to make an offer at all," explained the mayor.

The offer for the leasehold is now so high that Schmid sees it as "a profit maximization" for the church.

One wants to continue pursuing the plans "at the farmer's innkeeper".

"But we also have to look around for alternatives."

The situation is better for other construction projects.

After 52 years of preparatory work, "finally building rights" could be obtained for the "Kirschbichel" building area.

"Am Änger" is also making progress, so that living space can soon be created there, said Schmid.

Energy topic: Three to four wind turbines planned in Sachsenried

Finally, the mayor moved on to the major topic of energy, in which he had invested a lot of time over the past few months.

He took advantage of the moment to announce the latest plans for green energy generation: wind turbines in the Sachsenried forest.

"Until March, wind power was not interesting because of the 10H rule," said Schmid.

That has now changed.

Only a few days ago, the 10H rule was overturned, at least for exceptional cases.

Now it should also be possible in Bavaria to build wind turbines in the forest or on the motorway up to 1000 meters away from residential areas.

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Three to four wind turbines are planned in Sachsenried, said Schmid.

These should be created in “exclusive citizen participation” so that everyone can benefit.

Large investors are excluded, and the bikes should only be built on private property.

Schmid has already sat down with property owners.

At the moment, they are looking for the right system together with the company "Primus Energie".

In winter, the affected area is still searched for eyries of the rare red kite.

"The construction of the first plant is planned for 2025," announced Schmid.

The wind turbines will be 250 meters high or less

About 70 citizens were seated in the Schwabsoien community hall.

© Theresa Kuchler

A citizen then wanted to know how high the wind turbines will be.

Schmid replied that "Primus Energie" had previously built wind turbines with a total height of 250 meters.

The newer plants that could be built in Sachsenried would probably be a little smaller and each have an output of 15 to 17 megawatts.

Another citizen's question about the planned wind turbines revolved around animal welfare: "Does the flight of birds still play a role?" he wanted to know.

The head of the town hall explained that the "wind-on-shore law" serves the outstanding public interest and is superior to nature conservation in many places.

You only have to watch out for certain bird or bat species.

In Peiting, wind turbines are planned on the Köpfingen meadows, which is anything but easy because of the Wieskirche.

Now they even want to ask Minister of Economics Habeck for help.

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