Big commotion

Fuss over school campus: parking lot instead of trees?

The Greens see a looming concrete jungle at the new school campus(Bild: Die Grünen St. Pölten)

(Bild: SPÖ)

Because trees have to make way for cars, the Greens are up in arms in St. Pölten. The city counters: the project will result in more green space than before!  

A special kind of educational campus is being built on Grillparzerstraße in St. Pölten. In addition to the Grillparzer elementary school and its afternoon care, the spacious complex will also provide space for the provincial capital's music school and a kindergarten. An uncontroversial project, one would think. But the Green Party is now calling for a protest.

Chainsaw is started 
The reason: five trees are being felled on a meadow between the elementary school and Josefstrasse to create new parking spaces. "The only sunny part of the school garden is being concreted over," the Greens protest. Their local councillor Walter Heimerl-Lesnik complains: "While other cities are unsealing areas, the clocks in St. Pölten still run differently."

A large traffic-free school campus is being built with around 16,000 square meters of play and exercise areas.

Harald Ludwig, SPÖ-Vizebürgermeister von St. Pölten

Bild: SPÖ

Grass instead of concrete
However, Deputy Mayor Harald Ludwig (SPÖ) does not accept this: "16,000 square meters of play and exercise area with green space and trees are being created here." In the Grillparzerstraße area, 43 parking spaces will be removed due to the traffic calming for the school campus. "As a replacement, 15 new parking spaces will be created as a so-called kiss & ride zone for the school. This will be designed with grass pavers. So there's no question of concreting over," counters Ludwig. There are simply parents who have to take their children to school by car. Moreover, only diseased trees would be cut down, but significantly more fresh shade trees would be planted.