Just set something up for the young people – it’s not that easy after all. The Gräfelfingen local councils are having a hard time approving a dirt park. The will is there, but the circumstances make things difficult for them: the location, the costs, the liability risk. The whole project is still “unfinished”, Florian Ernstberger (Citizens’ Association Gräfelfing-Lochham) summed it up last week in the environmental committee on Thursday. The deliberations go into another round.
If you believe the Radquartier planning office, then the dirt park facility will become the most popular leisure meeting place in the community. Managing Director Robin Specht expects 150 mountain bikers and BMX cyclists to ride the ramps and dare jumps on the weekends. Whenever a municipality invests in such a bicycle course, it becomes a magnet for athletes far beyond the municipal boundaries, he has found out.
But the project also brings with it a few obstacles in terms of planning. A location away from the commercial area is currently planned. Some local councilors felt that this is not really ideal for younger children to be able to get there on their own. But that’s exactly the intention, because the course should become a “sports park for families,” said Specht. Although the course is now around 100,000 euros cheaper than the first planning variant – around 300,000 euros are incurred – some local councilors still find it too expensive. They are also skeptical about liability issues. Although the dirt park is approved by the TÜV, which gives it the safety status of a children’s playground – “the risk of accidents lies outside of a soccer field or tennis court,” says Specht – but doubts remained as to whether the municipality could not be liable.
At the end of a long deliberation, the local councilors realized that the outdoor facility required a building permit and with it the whole procedure of land use planning. It was the ultimate impetus to revisit the issue and possibly find a more central location that would make approval easier. If the system is then a few euros cheaper, everyone can be satisfied.