Devastating floods in different parts of Germany with numerous people who have perished – for the Neubiberger SPD parliamentary group the current disaster is an occasion to bring the issue of flood protection back onto the table. She had recently made an urgency request in the municipal council that the administration should immediately resume talks with the affected municipalities and property owners to implement the flood protection measures for Unterbiberg. Even if the group withdrew its motion in the end, you can be sure that the subject will be discussed again. Neubiberg’s mayor Thomas Pardeller (CSU) assured that the community was already on the topic of flood protection and that it was important.
The Neubiberger district of Unterbiberg is located like Oberhaching, Taufkirchen, Unterhaching and the city of Munich on the Hachinger Bach. Most of the time it splashes peacefully, but that can change quickly in heavy rains, as the 2013 Pentecost flood showed. For this reason, the affected communities have long tried to implement an intermunicipal flood management. However, not much has happened in the past few years. “The groundwater model of the city of Munich is currently pending,” Pardeller informed the local council. He expects it to be ready in the fall. “When that is there, the talks will continue,” he said. Of course, he knows the importance of the subject. Nevertheless, he did not see the urgency of the application. On the occasion of the advance of the SPD, he held out the prospect that there should be a status report on the subject. He also wants to invite the local council to a working meeting with the experts.
SPD parliamentary group leader Elisabeth Gerner honored the community’s activities. She justified the application by stating that an intermunicipal report commissioned by Neubiberg and the neighboring communities on measures necessary for effective flood protection had been available since 2014, but nothing had yet been implemented. She pointed out that, especially in the communities on the upper reaches, the willingness to take action was rather low. In a situation like this, “perhaps a Mr. Schelle is also willing to compromise,” she said, referring to Oberhaching’s mayor.
Like Pardeller, most of the committee did not see the urgency, but the explosive nature of the subject. The mayor emphasized that the community was working flat out on the issue, that others were more likely to be hooked. In this direction, Tobias Thalhammer (CSU) from Unterbiberger expressed himself: You have to contact the city of Munich. Gerner finally withdrew the application, but said: “I want all the mayors involved to come to the table.” This is also in Pardeller’s interest. He favors a “joint solution” for the communities, as he told the SZ. But Neubiberg is also working on alternatives.