Black-Red in the sights

Without a needs assessment, brothels will also proliferate

There are 230 excavated soil landfills in Tyrol, which means that almost every one of the 277 Tyrolean municipalities has one. But do we need so many?(Bild: LUA)

A needs assessment is required for every brothel, but not for an excavated landfill site with a huge impact on local residents: List Fritz MP Markus Sint calls for an "end to the Black-Red blockade" in the Tyrolean state parliament.

A step in the right direction, but not the big step that the municipalities need: this is how LA Markus Sint (Liste Fritz) assesses the amendment to the Waste Management Act, which the "Krone" reported on Friday. "More say is one thing, but holding the levers is another."

Sint is calling for "real decision-making powers" for municipalities in the form of special land zoning. According to Sint, this could be decided by parliament at any time with a simple majority. "We have been requesting this for six years. But first the ÖVP and Greens blocked this solution, now it's the ÖVP and SPÖ!" the politician is annoyed.

"In the district of Imst, there is currently free landfill capacity - i.e. free filling volume - for the next 14 years. The situation is similar in other districts.

Markus Sint, Klubobmann der Liste Fritz

More permits required when building a garage
There is no longer any proportionality at all with landfills: "If you want to build a garage in Tyrol, you not only need a dedication from the municipality, but also a building negotiation and a building permit! But for landfills, to which tens of thousands of trucks drive to and from, polluting the population with noise, dust and dirt, as well as destroying valuable land, meadows and forests, there is no need for municipal approval. That's absurd!"

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Landesumweltanwaltschaft Tirol )

Landfill proliferation due to lack of needs assessments
In any case, a second instrument is also needed, namely a needs assessment. "It is completely nonsensical that new landfills are approved while existing ones are not filled at all," says Sint, for whom there is a lack of proportionality here too: "A needs assessment is required for every new brothel, but not for a landfill. This nonsense must be stopped!"

Immense land consumption for two years
Meanwhile, not a month goes by without new applications for excavated soil landfills throughout Tyrol. "Around 1.9 million square meters of land have been used for this purpose since 2022 alone!"