It was supposed to be one of the great solutions to the housing shortage in Munich, but it is now on the verge of collapse. Almost 4,000 people were originally supposed to move into the development on Muttenthalerstrasse in Solln, into up to 2,000 new apartments. The city planners have now halved the numbers, and they can imagine another 1,000 apartments on the green border in the south of the city. But that is still too much for a citizens’ initiative and the Green Party faction in the city council.
They are demanding a complete turnaround by the planning department and want to remove the fields and paddocks of the local Corona riding club from the city’s construction plans. Instead, the areas should be added to the nearby landscape conservation area. A corresponding petition from the opponents of the construction will be discussed in the planning committee on Wednesday.
The chances of victory are excellent, because the CSU in the city council is also supporting their goals. “In an increasingly crowded city, people have to be given air to breathe and space to relax,” says city councilor Veronika Mirlach. Her group will therefore vote against the building plans and also for the inclusion of the areas in the nearby nature reserve.
With its resistance, a citizens’ initiative hits a nerve
If that happens, Sabine Braun will breathe a sigh of relief. “This is crazy,” she thought when she heard about the building plans. “We have to do something about it.” Like-minded people quickly came together and the Citizens’ Initiative (BI) Green Belt Munich South was founded. They want to preserve the agricultural fields and the paddocks for the horses as a local recreation area and a cold air reservoir for the neighboring districts.
With its resistance, the BI has apparently struck a nerve throughout southern Munich. More than 5,500 supporters have signed an online petition. The responsible district committee has also unanimously spoken out against the building plans. Together with the Green Party, it has now invited people to an on-site meeting at the Corona riding club. There are horses in the paddocks and a small course with obstacles for show jumping has been set up. Next to them are fields that are used for agriculture. At the other end of the potential building area is the Sollner Krautgarten, where citizens can grow their own vegetables in return for rent.
New apartments are extremely important, says Green City Councilor Anna Hanusch, as we head from the paddocks back through the stables to the Reiterstüberl. “But this is the wrong place for it.” However, the city designated the area as a potential building site in the land use plan back in the 1980s and 1990s. Nothing has happened since then, but in 2022 there was a change of ownership of the riding club’s premises, the city has its own properties in the area, and the pressure on the housing market is growing. The planning department is urgently looking for areas on which the new apartments demanded by politicians can be built.
It is unlikely that this will happen on Muttenthalerstrasse. “For decades, the possibility of development has loomed over the district like the sword of Damocles. We in the Munich City Council are committed to finally creating clarity on this issue,” explained the deputy chairwoman of the Green Party, Sybille Stöhr, after visiting the riding club.
Last but not least, this is also a reason that makes a change of course necessary. “The riding club fulfils an important role in Munich’s sporting landscape. It is run on a voluntary basis and is attended by many girls in particular.” If a large part of the outdoor areas were to be lost as building land, this would threaten the club’s existence, says the second chairwoman Sabine Urban.
The SPD is angry that “a structurally conservative majority” made up of the CSU and the Greens wants to put an end to all building plans on Muttenthalerstrasse. This is what Christian Köning, parliamentary group leader and city chairman, says. The SPD does not want to build a new district here immediately, but it does want to keep the city’s options open and not convert the area into a landscape conservation area. “We believe it is right to continue to consider the area on Muttenthalerstrasse for affordable housing in the long term and to leave important options for urban development open – even if loud and well-organized special interests see things differently,” says Köning.