A majority of people in Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn would like more bike paths in the community, a more attractive town center, three wind turbines in the Höhenkirchner forest – but no lighting on the church path. At least those are the results of the first round of surveys using the online tool Democy, which was of course far from being a representative survey. As city hall spokeswoman Gabriele Wehner reported to the municipal council, a total of 544 residents – barely five percent of the population – downloaded the app for digital citizen participation from March to June. Between 186 and 500 people would then have voted on the 33 questions, almost half of which were submitted by the citizenry.
A second round of surveys will start in August
Gabriele Wehner only presented the municipal council with those theses where a clear picture had emerged – with at least a two-thirds majority. The request to the town hall that more administrative services can also be carried out online achieved the maximum approval rating of 91 percent. However, the municipality already offers this in all areas where it is legally permissible, said Wehner. According to her, several theses are already being worked on, which received a great deal of approval – such as the demand for a sustainable energy strategy on the part of the municipality or that the town hall is committed to shorter closing times at the inner-city barriers on the railway. 70 percent of the users called for a meeting point for young people in the town centre. Almost as many pleaded for more e-charging stations and a natural pool at Hirschwinkel, where the municipality recently offered the Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn natural pool association a plot of land.
“You should be careful with these numbers,” warned Max Lachner (General Free Voters’ Association) after the presentation. “That’s just the opinion of a fraction of the population.” This is exactly what Mayor Mindy Konwitschny (SPD) pointed out when the municipal council decided on a one-year pilot project with the Democy app last year. A second round of surveys will start in August, said Gabriele Wehner in the municipal council. For this purpose, new theses were drawn up at a workshop in mid-July. Two more rounds of surveys are to follow in autumn and at the beginning of next year.