There used to be children here. There’s no denying that. A little plastic shovel is still there, and a little bucket: But apart from that, the place in the farthest corner of the courtyard of a block of flats on Leibstrasse in Haar is suitable for triggering an escape reflex in sensitive people. A heap of sand and a bench next to it: the playground that the second mayor Ulrich Leiner (Greens) recently named as a negative example in the municipal council was not enough for more. The town hall will now think about what playgrounds in Haar should look like and will draw up a statute for this.
The playground at the residential and commercial building on the corner of Bahnhofsplatz looked particularly desolate a few days ago, covered with the remains of snow. There will soon be renovated and then, according to Mayor Andreas Bukowski (CSU), the outdoor area will be prepared at the same time. Bukowski and the CSU parliamentary group were convinced in the municipal council that investors regulate things themselves and that new guidelines are not necessary. So far there have been no complaints about playgrounds, said parliamentary group leader Dietrich Keymer. It is “exaggerated” to want to regulate something that does not require regulation. SPD, Greens and FDP saw things differently.
A transfer is theoretically possible
Against the background of new possibilities offered by the amended Bavarian Building Code, the SPD had submitted an application to draw up playground statutes for apartment buildings in the municipality in order to set standards for location, size and equipment. It should also be clarified how a certain amount of money can be used to buy oneself free from the obligation to build a playground. The building code provides for the proceeds to be invested in a “local children’s or youth leisure facility”. Peter Paul Gantzer (SPD) said it was “very, very important” how playgrounds were designed. Mike Seckinger (Greens) thought it was good to send investors “a signal” about what Haar was expecting. Peter Siemsen (FDP) called for putting a stop to “anti-human playground design” at an early stage.
However, the CSU fears more bureaucracy and even more complicated approval procedures. Regulations should actually be dismantled, said Mayor Bukowski, and his party friend Anke Bender said that municipal councils are not qualified to determine what makes a good playground. This is what builders should do. But the majority was in favor of a statute.