From the point of view of Matthias Paul, the matter can be summed up in a nutshell: “Green stuff beautifies the city,” he says. And thus justifies his vote for an online petition to ensure that the wall and the trees on it on the Munich Ring in Unterschleißheim are preserved. The planned clear-cutting that was decided in November, to which 119 trees in the city center are to fall victim – directly at the new planned Michael-Ende elementary school on the Munich Ring – is making waves. Within a short period of time, the petition found more than 280 supporters, who primarily criticized the ecological consequences of the decision. The Greens collect additional signatures, plan information stands and an application to the building committee so that the decision is corrected.
The Greens do not deny that most of the 119 trees have to be felled. They have to make way for the overdue new building of the school. But at least 25 trees and part of the wall are unnecessarily sacrificed from the point of view of the Greens for an open space facing the street – for purely architectural reasons. The central accusation was that aesthetics were placed above climate protection. A number of people from Unterschleißheim agree. “No tree should be felled because of such nonsense,” says Nicole Feyrer, justifying her support for the petition. Others complain that habitats for insects and birds are being lost. Urban efforts to protect the climate would be thwarted.
… or should it be better shielded from traffic by trees?
(Photo: Visualization: Tino Schlagintweit)
Unterschleißheim’s second mayor, Tino Schlagintweit (Green Party), has made working for the trees his business. He’s convinced that in November city council colleagues weren’t clear on the implications of their decision. Although the topic had been discussed for months, for a long time it looked as if the wall and trees that shield the school from the street would remain standing. According to participants, the majority at the decisive meeting in November tipped over at short notice in order to completely clear the trees along the road. Since then, Schlagintweit has been trying to use visualizations to make it clear how bleak it would look on the Munich Ring – for example at an information evening of the Greens on Tuesday in the park restaurant with 35 guests. There was an “engaged discussion,” he says. Schlagintweit complained that the city councilors did not have such meaningful pictures at hand before they voted. He also considers it a missed opportunity that the citizens were not consulted beforehand.
The first trees should be felled by the end of February at the latest
The city has recently expanded its public participation and created a portal with the online tool “Consul” on which moods can be easily queried or public participation on complex issues is possible. An opinion on the new district “Lohhof-Süd multi-generational living” was collected there. However, Schlagintweit thinks that the development of an entire district is too complex to be treated in this way on the internet. However, the question of whether someone was in favor of walls and trees or whether they were dispensable – in his opinion, that would have been a case for “Consul”.
The Greens, who have now taken matters into their own hands, are voting on the platform for online petitions called Change.org. A signature campaign has also started. On Saturday, January 21, the party is planning information stands on the town hall square and on the district road. In addition, Schlagintweit announced that he would submit an application to the next building committee meeting of the city council – knowing full well that the construction site should be set up and the first trees cut down in the next few days. Because of bird protection, this is only possible until the end of February. But it looks like this will not create any irreversible facts. The manager in the town hall, Thomas Stockerl, says that only trees that would have to go anyway would be felled shortly. “It has nothing to do with the Wall.” That’s exactly what Tino Schlagintweit relies on. This would give us time, at least until the autumn, to bring about another change of opinion.