The decision about the “Hohenbrunn West” residential area and the location of the new secondary school was specially moved to the gymnasium of the elementary school so that all listeners can find space. But then the response was limited. Ultimately, Mayor Stefan Straßmair (CSU) and the municipal councils were practically among themselves when they decided to change the land use plan with only one dissenting vote. “Now we can get everything going,” says Straßmair, relieved.
According to him, it took more than two hours to work through all the objections raised by private individuals as part of the public participation in May and June, as well as the statements from neighboring communities, authorities and organizations. The most controversial aspects of the large-scale project also came up again and again in the public participation, such as the distance of the sports field from the main building of the Realschule, the alleged contaminated sites lying underground on the targeted sports field site, noise protection for the school and its outdoor facilities as well as the expected increase in traffic on the access roads.
Optimistic: Hohenbrunn Mayor Stefan Straßmair, here at an information event for the Hohenbrunn West school and residential area in 2021.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
For example, one citizen – the written statements were anonymised, as is customary in such processes – expressed the suspicion that masses of soil might have to be disposed of on the planned sports field site, and at the same time made the calculation that at 100 euros per cubic meter costs up to one million euros for the excavation of the top one-meter layer could become due. The town hall administration disagreed: the topsoil investigations had shown that no pollutants were present. Soil disposal only occurs where, for constructional reasons, excavations have to be carried out and these extractions have to be disposed of. “I rely on the reports,” says Mayor Straßmair. “We had two different large-scale samples taken from the entire area and the result clearly says that there is no evidence of any risk from harmful substances for the soil-human impact path.”
As far as the distance between the sports field and the school is concerned, the mayor is also relaxed: “The walk for the school children takes a maximum of ten minutes,” he says, and the space is only used for football and athletics. The special-purpose association for state secondary schools in the south-east of the district of Munich has also classified the route as “reasonable”.
The traffic situation on Hohenbrunner Strasse could become problematic – the administration is looking for solutions
Possible noise protection measures that are to be provided for the school and especially the sports field because of its proximity to the A 99 cannot be foreseen at this time, according to the corresponding statements by the municipal administration on inquiries from citizens. These issues would then be dealt with when the development plan was drawn up.
Numerous inquiries from the population revolved around the additional traffic that is to be expected from the new apartments and the secondary school. A traffic report states that as a result of the development of the area, around 1,300 additional motor vehicles should be on the road in this area every day. According to the analysis, the majority of the targeted 800 students, namely just over half, will come by S-Bahn.
Nevertheless, residents and the Bund Naturschutz fear chaotic conditions, especially on Hohenbrunner Straße, which, coming from the Ottobrunn train station, connects the districts of Riemerling and Hohenbrunn Dorf. Even now, passing the road narrowed by many parked cars at peak times is a test of patience, and cyclists in particular are often exposed to dangerous situations. Concerns were also expressed from the neighboring municipality of Ottobrunn, pointing out that the intersection of Ottostrasse and Hohenbrunner Strasse should not be overloaded by backwater.
In Hohenbrunn, the position is taken that one is not responsible for a crossing on non-local territory. The traffic load on Hohenbrunner Strasse is very well to be taken care of. “If we have a ban on stopping there, the residents will have to park their cars on their property, the street will get wider and tempt them to ignore the 30 km/h speed limit,” says Straßmair. “If we then flash there, we get accused of highway robbery – we’re going in circles.” However, it would be worth checking whether stopping bans should be issued in places.
Only local councilor Schlick votes against the plans: “The whole project doesn’t suit Hohenbrunn”
Skeptical: Andreas Schlick, who sits on the Hohenbrunn municipal council for the citizens’ forum.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
While the other municipal councils agreed with the administration’s statements on the objections and inquiries from the citizens, only Andreas Schlick (citizens’ forum) rejected the entire change in the land use plan. “The whole project doesn’t suit Hohenbrunn,” he says, putting forward several arguments for his thesis: First of all, there is the fact that the residential area is now being developed north of the B 471 and not south, as was explicitly the subject of the public dialogue had been in 2018. In Schlick’s opinion, the size of the new residential area is also not proportionate, after all, it was once assumed that there would be 300 new residents in Hohenbrunn-West, but now there are even talks of 575, which corresponds to an increase of more than 6.5 percent of the current total population .
The fact that the Doblinger Group, which owns the area, only allows rental apartments there, in no way corresponds to the local development demanded by many citizens. This means that social housing, special forms of housing such as multi-generational houses or the purchase of residential property, for example in the form of local models, are virtually ruled out. And then there is the financial factor, which should not be underestimated: “We are already heavily indebted due to the construction of the swimming pool for 25 million euros. Against the background of the energy crisis, the operation of the pool cannot be calculated at all. With the costs caused by Hohenbrunn West we will then finally find ourselves in financial difficulties,” says Schlick.
Because that would add the purchase of land for the Realschule for seven million euros, Hohenbrunn’s share in the construction costs for the school, the conversion of the train station and possibly a roundabout at the junction of Hohenbrunner Straße and the B 471. “And all of this will be done through loans financed – with interest rates now rising,” says Schlick. “We leave the management of shortages to the future generations, who will take on political responsibility in Hohenbrunn.”