"Were lied to"

Threat of eviction: trouble in the camping paradise of Burg

Instead of vacation idyll, the camping paradise at Burger Stausee is now a construction site.(Bild: Privat)

For almost 50 years, permanent campers in Burg were allowed to erect porches in front of their mobile homes. Not knowing that this was illegal. The municipality no longer wants to bear the liability.

For many, camping is so much more than just a form of vacation: it is a philosophy of life. This can also be seen at the campsite in Natur-Badeparadies-Burg, where the first camping caravans arrived in 1975. Around 50 pitches are available for permanent campers. Many of them have not been on the road with their mobile homes for years. Their caravans have become small vacation homes - complete with fixed porches. This is now becoming their downfall.

Illegal porches were tolerated by the municipality
The municipality of Hannersdorf no longer wants to put mercy before justice, as Mayor Gerhard Klepits explains. To put it in facts: the campers in question have been erecting their porches illegally since the 1990s and, following a unanimous decision by the municipal council last year, were first asked to vacate their pitches by December 31, 2023 and then requested to remove the porches by March 31, 2024.

Campers feel cheated by the municipality
The criticism of the campers who are now rebelling seems justified. After all, all pitches have always been allocated by the municipality, the last of which were "approved" in August of the previous year. "Permits" for canopies were also issued, according to the campers. "We were lied to and cheated and invested huge sums of money - without knowing that this was only tolerated and should never have been approved," says a camper from the Oberwart district who has been staying in Burg since 2016.

Many campers have torn down their huts and left Burg.(Bild: Privat)

Ten campers want to call their bluff
Cilli and Hansi Fürst, who have been staying in Burg with their mobile home for more than 30 years, are also outraged by the procedure. While many campers have already vacated their pitches, the couple and ten other campers want to wait and see what happens - their canopies will remain in place for the time being. The head of the village, on the other hand, wants to take action and threatens to evict them. "There is imminent danger and we can no longer tolerate this. This is a campsite and not a mobile home site."

Change to the zoning plan set the ball rolling on the case
The case was set in motion by the Provincial Department for Nature Conservation in 2018 during an inspection of the campsite to amend the digital zoning plan. The campsite in question is located in a flood protection area. However, a letter from the municipality in 2018 also stated that the majority of the buildings could be subsequently approved under nature conservation law.