Pasing’s citizens are concerned about the climate – and not just since the issue has become more and more important to urban society. Tree felling has always been the focus of criticism in the garden-rich district, but the residents of the district are now also concerned with a future that is as sustainable as possible. How important this aspect is to them was shown on Wednesday evening at the citizens’ meeting in the Bertolt-Brecht-Gymnasium: A clear focus of the 25 speeches revolved around tree and climate protection issues.
Reiner Lang, active in the Pasinger Grün citizens’ initiative, suggested, with the consent of the assembly, that the common principle “building law breaks tree law” be reversed in the future. Trees should be cared for and preserved – if only to prevent unnecessary heat deaths in the big city through the climatological effect. For this to succeed, according to a recently published study, the crowns of trees must span at least 30 percent of the urban area. “But in Munich we only have a crown coverage of 20 percent – so there is a lot of catching up to do.”
For Isabella van Eeghen, deficits in climate protection are not least due to structural problems. With support from the hall, she called for the creation of a unified authority for all issues relating to nature and climate protection. In her opinion, the current division of responsibilities between the Department for Climate and Environmental Protection and the Lower Nature Conservation Authority, which is part of the Local Building Commission, creates a great deal of confusion.
It is a fact that commercial property developers on private Pasinger properties are still sacrificing many trees and shrubs in favor of densification. “Due to the trend towards sealing, the old forest colony is slowly losing its historical green garden city character,” she criticized, pointing to twelve acutely endangered “old forest giants” on Lichtinger Strasse as an example. The people of Pasing also expect more tree and climate protection from a strengthening of the competence of the district committees, which up to now have only had the right to be heard when it comes to tree felling applications.
For Monika Ermert, the problem also lies in the specific design of construction projects. “Tree, climate and groundwater protection instead of monster garages” was the title of her initiative. Their demand that in future basements and underground car parks should not be larger than the buildings on the surface should serve to preserve greenery at the edges of properties. Instead of only turning Munich into a sponge city in new development areas, which allows precipitation to seep away, it is also a matter of maintaining the “spongy ability” in the districts. Christopher Stark went one step further: The meeting also agreed to his request to protect hundred-year-old trees from being felled.
Helmut Mang emphasized that environmental protection begins in-house. Emissions from fossil fuels are more harmful to air quality in Munich than exhaust fumes from cars and trucks. Wood and pellet heating systems, which have come back into fashion, also contribute to this. Supporting the construction of pellet systems with thousands of euros is a “ghost train ride” in terms of climate protection. His demand, which can be won by a majority in Pasing: At least the correct heating behavior should be more closely controlled, for example by the chimney sweep.
For Heinrich Sick, despite a zero-waste concept, Munich still has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to dealing with waste and recyclables. Only in 2035 will they reach the level that Augsburg already had in 2022, he emphasized and demanded progress instead of just burning waste – for example in biogas production.
The citizens’ meeting was able to take away good news with regard to the future of the ailing Peslmüller elementary school: According to Bernd Bayer from the building department, a recent indoor air measurement showed “no impairments”. Planning for quick repairs has already been started, and in one of the next vacation periods, “at the latest in the summer holidays”, the renovation of the ceilings, from which the mineral wool is already partly sticking out, is to take place.