As is well known, majorities can change and tip over. Projects that until recently were undisputed, even wanted, can fail, with far-reaching consequences for the client, of course. This is what happened to the founder of the Montessori school Biberkor on Tuesday evening, Werner von Kahlden-Gmell. Together with his wife Dorothea, he wanted to realize an inclusive multi-generational housing project on an outdoor plot in the north of the estate. A matter close to the heart of both of them. 25 to 30 people with and without disabilities should find a home here and be able to live together.
A showcase project, the construction of which would have cost the community nothing and which would also have been open to community citizens. At the meeting on Tuesday evening, however, with 13 votes to five, the local councils overturned the development plan procedure for the project, which had been running for six years. However, the critics of the plans did not tire of asserting that they were not against the residential project itself, but only against its size and the planned location. They left the couple free to submit new proposals at a point on the estate that was within the scope of the existing development plan.
Nevertheless, for Werner von Kahlen-Gemel the outcome of the meeting should mean a bitter defeat. Because the 77-year-old has been involved with the ambitious residential project since 2014. Since then, the municipal councils have also been involved in the plans. In 2015 it was decided to draw up a development plan for it. Now, six years later, the local council has put everything back to the beginning. Exit open. Why? With the local elections in March 2020, there was a generation change in the local council. Almost half of the council members are new and some have different plans for Biberkor. They were particularly disturbed at the intended location in the north of the estate. In numerous requests to speak, they advocated either accommodating the project in one of the old buildings or implementing it in a scaled-down version elsewhere on the estate – for example in the south. So Kahlden-Gmell has to rethink and reschedule. That’s for sure.
He had imagined it to be so beautiful. The inclusive housing project should round off his concept for Biberkor. Above all, young people with disabilities who have completed school and often cannot find an apartment or a job on the free market should be able to live here and pursue a job – in small-scale agriculture, gardening or beekeeping, which is already in There are approaches on the estate. A small farm shop was also planned, at least so far.
In 1995 Kahlden-Gmell bought the property between Aufkirchen and Höhenrain from the order “Sisters of the Holy Family”, to whom the property had previously served as a rest home. And Kahlden-Gmell realized a unique Montessori project there: a “Montessori school for everyone – from kindergarten to high school”. With it, the municipality of Berg has made a name for itself in the republic far beyond the district boundaries. Today the school is attended by around 560 children and young people, 40 of whom have disabilities.