“So far, the local councils have only been informed one-sidedly, we are now switching from mono to stereo.” With these words, Stefan Zenz, chairman of the Baierbrunn local branch of the Federal Nature Conservation Union, opened the information event on Friday evening in the sports and community center. Zenz and his guests pointed out the possible consequences of building on the so-called school meadow east of Hermann-Roth-Straße for endangered species such as the eagle owl.
The area on the banks of the Isar is designated as a landscape protection area. Nevertheless, the municipal council decided in a special session at the end of December to initiate the preparation of a development plan: Among other things, because of the possibility of initiating an accelerated building law procedure and – provided that an urban development contract is concluded with the private property owners – Acquire part of the site for the school.
The way it came about – the application was rejected in a first vote – and the explosive nature of the topic with its possible ecological, political and private economic effects had caused a stir locally and now attracted numerous Baierbrunn residents to the sports center. At the end of the evening, one of them – Jan Kirsten Biener – announced that an association would soon be founded in which forces would join forces to fight for more nature and homeland protection or better transparency in local politics.
Excessively heated discussions were not allowed on the evening, when some local councilors also appeared, as the former mayor Wolfgang Jirschik (ÜWG), who acted as moderator, emphasized, it was about information and clarification. What the two invited “top guests” (Jirschik) had to say was impressive enough anyway: “The bird that hovers over everything is the owl,” said Manfred Siering, well-known ornithologist and chairman of the BN local group Grünwald-Strasslach-Dingharting . The largest species of owl has been breeding in the Isarhang forest south of the Baierbrunner climbing garden since the late 1970s, but the flora and fauna habitat there is not sufficient as a shelter. “Why is the meadow so important? Because it is a buffer area for a high-profile protected area,” Siering said.
Building houses and fences in open spaces would restrict and endanger the habitat of the eagle owl – and other bird species such as the gray woodpecker, stock dove or woodcock: “Everything is related.” Especially since the natural pearl of the Isar Valley, also referred to by Siering as the “treasure trove of biodiversity”, is already subject to a great deal of leisure pressure due to its proximity to the city of Munich. The number of mountain bikers alone tripled in the pandemic years. If buffer zones on the high banks were also “nibbled on”, this would have an impact on flora and fauna, in addition to the bird species mentioned, such as bats, beetles or rare umbellifers.
Erich Rühmer, former mayor of Schäftlarn and chairman of the Isar Valley Association for many years, recalled that since 2013 efforts have been made to upgrade the Isar meadows and hillside forests south of Munich to a nature reserve – without success. He pointed out that a landscape protection area, such as the Baierbrunn “school meadow” at the moment, is treated very differently by the responsible authorities. In his home town of Ebenhausen, for example, a supermarket in the conservation area is now being expanded. The Munich district office and the lower nature conservation authority will have an important say in the planning of the “school meadow” area, about 20 percent of which is to be built on. This was also confirmed by Jirschik, who hosted the evening and answered questions submitted together with his two guests: “There are still a few obstacles to be overcome.”
This includes the fact that the time horizon for the development plan procedure – the end of 2024 – is relatively tight. Jan Kirsten Biener emphasized that the “political process” was not yet complete and defended himself against the narrative “We do it for the children”, which Mayor Patrick Ott (ÜWG) and some local councils used from his point of view. Biener, who works in a Munich media agency, suspects that the conversion of a landscape protection area into building land will be mixed up with the purchase of the meadow under the “guise of school conversion”. Ott, who was not present at the event due to scheduling reasons, will probably comment on all of this at a discussion evening planned in a few months.