Result of the Waakirchner citizen survey: It should be an open village square

Created: 01/12/2023 17:56

By: Christina Jachert-Maier

According to the Dorfmitte working group, the Bäckervoitl property should be demolished.

The future design of the property was the subject of a citizen survey.

© THOMAS PLETTENBERG

The working group Dorfmitte Waakirchen has been dealing with the design of the Bäckervoitl property since June 2022.

Now the needs analysis is complete - with a citizen survey.

Waakirchen

- An open village square, a bistro or café, a community hall, but also living space, parking spaces and public toilets: The Waakirchners' wish list for the site at the Bäckervoitl estate is arranged according to priority.

Balthasar Brandhofer presented the results of the citizen survey to the municipal council as spokesman for the village center working group.

This in the best of moods: the surprisingly high return of the questionnaire campaign fired the active ones.

As reported, 791 questionnaires were submitted, in paper form and online.

This corresponds to 13.4 percent of the population.

The rate is about four times the usual return, reported Brandhofer: "We absolutely did not expect that." The fact that citizens from all districts and all age groups took part was also gratifying: "The village center is not only of interest to those in Waakirchner."

Entry into the concrete planning

Which of the wishes really come true is decided in the second step.

The needs assessment was completed with the citizen survey, explained Brandhofer.

Now it's time to start planning.

This in turn depends on the possibilities of financing, i.e. grants.

In order to sound out the funding pots, the working group would like a round of talks with representatives of the Office for Rural Development and the municipality.

This is entirely in the spirit of Mayor Norbert Kerkel.

"We'll see that we can get an appointment as soon as possible," said Kerkel.

His preferred conversation partner is village planner Otto Kurz, who accompanied the founding of the working group in June 2022 and moderated the kick-off event in the gymnasium.

At that time, a schedule was set: the planning should be in place after a year.

Overwhelming response motivates to continue

"We won't quite make it," said Brandhofer.

However, the working group wants to get involved in the village center project over this period of time, when the municipality heralds the next phase.

The overwhelming response from the population motivates us to continue.

Where the journey could go has long been a topic in the working group.

It is clear that the list of priorities that has now been determined cannot simply be processed.

The open village square is the winner with 3399 points, but the desire to create living space also received 2959 points and thus occupies fourth place.

"You can't do both together," says Brandhofer.

housing elsewhere

It is hardly to be expected that the meadow near the district savings bank building, the future town hall, will become a new housing estate.

The municipality of Waakirchen is already planning the construction of apartments on Michael-Schreiber-Weg in Schaftlach and also a senior housing project on Westerpoltweg, also in Schaftlach.

"The municipality is already well on the way when it comes to housing construction," says Brandhofer.

In 2019 this was different.

The municipal council at the time was planning 30 apartments on the Bäckervoitl property.

The draft was overturned in a referendum, which now gave the impetus for the design of the village center with the participation of the citizens.

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My space

The citizens' hall (sixth place) and the preservation of the orchard (fifth place) are also high on the wish list.

Bistro and ice cream parlor take third place.

Honorable souvenir of the Bäckervoitl

The following would be conceivable: the old Bäckervoitl property would be demolished.

A new building of a similar size is being built on the meadow, which will serve several purposes.

"That would allow us to fulfill four or five points at the same time," explains Brandhofer.

There is enough green left over to take into account a wish that many people wrote down on the questionnaire: that the meadow in the center of the village not be built over.

During a site visit, the working group came to the conclusion that a refurbishment of the Bäckervoitl property was not worthwhile.

"But of course experts still have to look at it," said Brandhofer.

In order to preserve the memory of the former owner Valentin Schmid, the working group recommends naming the new village center Bäckervoitl-Platz: "He and his family deserve it."

Schmid, the Bäckervoitl, had lived in the house, which is now empty, until his death in March 2022.

He sold the entire property to his home town in 2010.

The Bäckervoitl could also have given investors a chance, Brandhofer recalled.

Then there would certainly be a lot of houses in the area: "And we wouldn't have so much green here."