“Those believed dead live longer” they say. This also applies to the idea of building a crematorium in Sauerlach. Once again, a planning application for the construction of a cremation facility has been received in the town hall of the municipality and in the district office. This time, however, not for the area on Energiestrasse at the eastern entrance to the town near the geothermal plant, but for a property south of Hofoldinger Strasse on Ohmstrasse. Mayor Barbara Bogner promptly rejected the request. She emphasizes that nothing has changed in the general attitude of the municipal council to prevent a crematorium in Sauerlach.
That was not always so. At the beginning of the year, the municipal council had signaled its agreement in principle to locating a cremation facility on the property on Energiestrasse north of Hofoldinger Strasse. A businessman from Eichstätt wanted to build a crematorium there. As a result, however, massive resistance to the project developed in the form of a citizens’ initiative. The municipal council changed its mind after visiting the state-of-the-art incinerator at Munich’s Ostfriedhof in November; During this time, the municipal councils realized that the capacities in the state capital were more than sufficient to also supply the south-eastern district of Munich. In its meeting on Tuesday evening, the municipal council finally buried the project.
The owner of the property has completely different plans
The fact that another interested party has now approached the administration is nothing unusual, says Bogner, operators of incineration plants would always turn to other municipalities in the Munich district and even submit building applications. The entrepreneur from southern Bavaria, who has now turned to the town hall, is also no stranger to the community. “The operator tries it at every location in the commercial area,” says Bogner. According to Bogner, this case is particularly noteworthy because the interested party did not contact the owner of the property on Ohmstrasse at all. “I spoke to the owner and he didn’t know anything.” What’s more, the property owner himself submitted a planning application for the area two months ago – admittedly not for a crematorium.
Bogner now rules out the possibility that a crematorium could be built in Sauerlach at some point: “We can generally prevent that if we don’t designate any special areas within the commercial areas.”