Bavaria’s municipalities fear the cuts in funding for rural development planned for the 2024 federal budget. The reduction plans were completely unexpected on this scale, said Hans-Peter Schmucker, head of the Lower Bavarian Office for Rural Development (ALE) in Landau. It is clear that savings have to be made, but the cuts in the envisaged form would be completely excessive. Instead of ensuring equal living conditions between town and country, people in rural areas would be left behind.
This is also the view of the Bavarian Municipal Council, whose President Uwe Brandl recently appealed to the federal government to reconsider the plans and, if necessary, to raise corresponding savings potential in other areas. “The constitutionally required equality of living conditions should not be jeopardized,” said Brandl.
The draft budget for 2024 approved by the federal cabinet provides for the federal government’s special framework plan for “rural development” to be completely abolished and for the joint task “improvement of agricultural structures and coastal protection” (GAK) to be massively reduced. According to the municipal council, the offices for rural development in Bavaria received around 49 million euros from the special framework plan in 2022, and around 45 million euros from regular GAK funds.
In Lower Bavaria alone, there are currently 190 village renewal projects in around 150 municipalities, reports ALE boss Schmucker. It is about red-hot topics such as water management, adaptation to climate change, space saving, local heating supply and a modern infrastructure. In Swabia there are currently around 300 projects in around 180 municipalities, as ALE manager Christian Kreye in Krumbach (Günzburg district) says. “The communities want to prepare the village and countryside for the future.”