Battle for soil protection
Municipalities want to limit building land in future
It is a treasure that is only available in limited quantities: the battle for land is correspondingly fierce. The municipalities responsible for land use planning are vehemently resisting federal regulations and have conducted a survey among mayors. They are raising eyebrows with controversial proposals. Environmental protection organizations are alarmed.
The Association of Municipalities has once again come out against the 2.5-hectare target. President Johannes Pressl (ÖVP) underpins this stance with a survey of mayors in which 70 percent were against this measure. A restriction of 2.5 hectares of consumption per day would "restrict the development of the municipalities and bring the country to a standstill". Pressl's argument that this limit would "disadvantage those municipalities that have already been cautious in their use of land" is noteworthy.
In its "municipal soil protection plan", the Association of Municipalities prefers to focus on other measures and is making people sit up and take notice with the introduction of maximum sizes for new building plots. Single-family house plots, for example, are to be limited to a maximum of 700 square meters. Also controversial: the municipalities want to access undeveloped plots of land, including through expropriation. However, this is highly controversial in legal terms.
Harsh criticism from environmentalists
Greens and environmental organizations have criticized the recent rejection of a binding building limit. "Soil is a finite resource: if we build on and seal off more and more nature and agricultural land, we endanger biodiversity and our food supply. It is time for the Association of Municipalities to understand that municipal development does not depend on how much grassland is covered in concrete," criticizes Melanie Ebner, soil protection spokesperson at Greenpeace.
Just this week, Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) and Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) presented a study showing that soil consumption is jeopardizing food security. At present, land consumption in the Alpine republic amounts to twelve hectares per day, the equivalent of around sixteen soccer pitches.
Food security in danger
"We must use every lever at our disposal to stop soil consumption and avoid putting our food security at risk," says Kurt Weinberger, CEO of Hagelversicherung. We must not get stuck in old ways of thinking, he warns.
People are further ahead than the association of municipalities
Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler refers to a recent market survey, according to which over 80 percent of the population support the 2.5-hectare target. "The people of Austria are obviously much further along than the Association of Municipalities. We have now concreted and sealed for decades without a goal. Now is the time to prioritize the protection of fields and soils with this goal. Because no potatoes grow on parking lots, and the people in our country know that."
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