It seems routine how the building authority manager Tanja Englbrecht rattles down all the arguments that speak against the application for gravel extraction from the point of view of the Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn community. How Mayor Mindy Konwitschny (SPD) then castigated the project. And how afterwards all parliamentary groups rail against the plans.
No wonder, after all, the community now has experience with the subject since a Hohenbrunn entrepreneur intended to extract gravel from the Muna site. Here and now, however, it is about another project, which is also evident after the rejection of the application by the municipal council. Because several people left the hall who only came to the meeting because of the topic – from the Ayinger district of Dürrnhaar.
Because even if the application is aimed at an area in Siegertsbrunn, it is still her home that would probably be most affected by the project. After all, it is about a plot of land on the municipal boundary, only a few hundred meters from Dürrnhaar’s houses. There, gravel is to be mined on a good nine hectares for 20 years – on a site where there is currently forest. However, this alone would not be a sufficient reason why the District Office would have to reject the application. And yet Konwitschny is “very confident” that the authority will withhold its approval. Finally, a planning office commissioned by the town hall found that the documents submitted were inadequate – both in terms of form and content.
Penitentiary warns of a “forest massacre”
According to the head of the building authority, Englbrecht, the application has neither a species protection examination nor an accompanying landscape conservation plan. The project is contrary to the land use plan, which categorizes the area as “forest with particular importance for the landscape”. Aying has also announced that the application could thwart plans for a bypass. “This property is classified as very critical from all sides,” concludes the mayor.
Otto Bußjäger (Independent Citizens) warns of a “forest massacre” that would destroy the character and recreational value of the area. Gudrun Hackl-Stoll (Greens) says, “Wind turbines must be 10 hours away from the residential development. But gravel can be removed directly behind the garden fence.” The legislature must change this as soon as possible. The unanimous rejection of the application is noted with satisfaction in neighboring Aying. “I am not generally against the mining of gravel,” says the local mayor Peter Wagner (CSU). “But you can’t just cut down several hectares of forest at this point. There are certainly other plots of land where gravel extraction is easier.”
The project near Dürrnhaar could also fail due to another hurdle. According to the Höhenkirchen town hall, the owner of the property in question informed the community that he had not concluded any contracts for the area. The gravel mining application was submitted without his knowledge.