At least the basic requirement has been met: One year after the first applications for the construction of solar energy areas, after numerous adjournments and a series of sometimes dogged debates, it is now clear where within the municipality of Putzbrunn it is fundamentally possible to install photovoltaic modules. Time is of the essence, as Mayor Edwin Klostermeier (SPD) emphasizes: “It’s 12 p.m., if not later,” says the mayor, referring to global warming. And he no longer tolerates a hesitant attitude: “You can take climate change seriously – or you just don’t. It’s not possible for us to reject everything and thus lose sight of the big picture.”
And that’s why it was necessary to at least hit the cornerstones. But with this suggestion, Klostermeier did not find an open ear with all municipal councils. In the most recent meeting, for example, Josef Jakob (free voters) criticized the plan to write down areas in the land use plan without even having had any talks with the landowners about a possible sale. The mayor vehemently contradicts this when asked by SZ: “The planning authority still lies with the municipality, so it is also our responsibility to clarify where we want to have photovoltaics.” It goes without saying that nobody, not even the farmers who own large areas, will be expropriated in order to enforce this will: “But maybe one or the other will change their mind at some point. Then we will have the legal planning basis to implement it quickly .”
Hopes for quick realization of the first PV areas: Mayor Edwin Klostermeier.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
The leader of the CSU parliamentary group, Eduard Boger, also criticizes the direct or at least indirect influence of landowners in the course of the decision-making process: “Individual objections can and should be made during the public statements on the land use plan – and not in advance,” he says. That violates equality. “Only because a few of those affected sit on the municipal council or have received the information from other members, plots were individually put to the vote,” Boger continued.
A site report by the planning association for the outer economic region of Munich (PV) served as the basis for these individual decisions. As a result, a larger area north of Solalinden fell out of the plans; and since the neighboring area could only be used to a limited extent, the municipal councils generally voted against photovoltaics in this area. All areas grouped directly around the village center met with no mercy from the local politicians – even though the planning association had called them well suited. “At some point it will be too much for a small community like Putzbrunn,” says the mayor.
Ultimately, the green light was given primarily for properties south of the A99, although these are in the regional green belt and are therefore not eligible for funding under the Ordinance on Energy Feed-In Tariffs (EEG). This, in turn, applies to three plots that are also located directly on the motorway, but north of it, and have been approved by the municipal council as potential solar areas. According to Klostermeier, a potential investor has already positioned himself there who could possibly install modules here on a larger scale in the near future. This also applies in the area of the commercial area East. Four areas have been approved as potential photovoltaic areas, one of which belongs to the municipality itself. While another area on the small street “Am Einfang” was approved, the municipal councils rejected two large areas north-west of the town center near the Terrassenhaus: “Then you would only have seen solar panels from the B471,” says Klostermeier.
In 2020, only seven percent of the electricity consumed in Putzbrunn came from renewable sources
Ultimately, areas totaling 18.8 hectares found favor with local politicians, out of the original 105 hectares that had been put up for discussion. “But that would have been ten percent of the municipal area,” puts the mayor into perspective. With the resolutions, the specifications in the town’s vision came close, there a designation of 24 hectares for solar energy is required in order to achieve the climate goals. While the resolutions did not go far enough for the Putzbrunn Greens, the municipal council’s decisions are exactly “what the CSU parliamentary group wanted from the start,” as Eduard Boger explains: “Areas on the edge of the autobahn that are even supported by the EEG are much more economical to operate and no areas that can be used for settlement development or as ecological compensation areas.” In any case, one should proceed “with a sense of proportion” during the realization and first “energetically upgrade existing and already sealed areas”.
The political representatives are aware that the formal act of naming potential solar areas in the land use plan for climate protection is far from sufficient: “We are working on the connection to geothermal energy, but unfortunately it depends on the planning of the public utility company,” says Klostermeier. Progress has also been made in Putzbrunn with wind energy. Areas north of Solalinden and west of the B 471 have already been selected for wind turbines. “Then the 10-H rule came and everything was overturned,” said the mayor.
In any case, there is a need for action: In 2020, only seven percent of the 30 million kilowatt hours of electricity consumed in Putzbrunn came from renewable sources.