Even after five years in the Leipzig city council, you can still experience defeats. That’s what happened to Left Party city councillor Oliver Gebhardt on August 21st, who had actually made a very sensible request: He wanted the P+R car park at the Neue Messe to finally be put into an acceptable condition. After rainfall, more than a third of the space is just a puddle and unusable. And some of the disabled parking spaces are difficult to place. The city thought that was right. But then Gebhardt made a mistake.
“The answers to the inquiry VII-F-09770 clearly showed the deficits of the P+R area and the unwillingness of the responsible department to change,” he stated in his application. “Inclusion and participation is and remains a topic for society as a whole. It is therefore completely incomprehensible why some of the designated disabled parking spaces are near the stairs to the S-Bahn. Even a 400 m detour with an additional tram ride is a long way from real participation in the sense of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
As long as barrier-free access to the S-Bahn station cannot be guaranteed, no parking spaces for people with disabilities should be designated in this area. This only leads to confusion. Once the entrance has been converted to make it barrier-free, the designated parking spaces must be moved back there accordingly.
The refusal to upgrade the P+R area during heavy rain events also seems difficult to understand. The area is intended to be used to reduce individual local public transport, particularly during events in the city center. However, the fact that large parts of the area are unavailable during heavy rain runs counter to this. The entire area should therefore be upgraded accordingly.”
The remaining third
The traffic and civil engineering office had responded at the time: “The P+R area at Neue Messe is essentially in a good usable condition. The lanes of the area have a bituminous surface and around two thirds of the parking spaces are paved with eco-paving. Between the paved parking lanes there are trenches to drain the surface water that accumulates.
The remaining third of the parking spaces only have an unbound surface. The surface water that accumulates in these areas is intended to seep away. During long-lasting or intense rainfall events, the existing soil conditions unfortunately sometimes lead to large-scale puddles forming, which limits the usability of these areas.
A significant and lasting improvement in the condition of this part of the square is only possible by expanding the still unpaved parking areas, including the creation of an orderly surface drainage system. However, since the currently paved parking spaces are essentially sufficient for the parking volume, no further expansion of the P+R area is currently planned.”
The park-and-ride area at the Neue Messe. Photo: Ralf Julke
And this despite the fact that the city council has been discussing time and again that the capacity of the P+R parking spaces is not sufficient for football matches and major events. The largest available P+R space should be in a decent condition, especially considering that a large photovoltaic system is to be built on it.
The helpful role of framework plans
The problem, however, is that, according to the Transport and Civil Engineering Office (VTA) in its statement on Gebhardt’s application, there are no plans for expansion work at the Neue Messe P+R site in the next two years, nor in the mobility strategy.
“The proposed measure is not part of the update of the framework plan for the implementation of the 2030 mobility strategy for Leipzig (VII-DS-09238), which was adopted by the city council on April 25, 2024,” the VTA states dryly. For some time now, the building department has been pushing for the city council to adopt such framework plans so that construction measures can be properly scheduled and carried out with the available resources.
This is a not entirely unimportant instrument for at least getting the huge investment backlog in all areas of the city under control, at least in part. If the city council wants to implement another measure first, one of the measures that have already been decided on will be removed from the package.
This is the simple effect of a wrong tax policy at the federal level and a wrong financial policy in Saxony, which leaves all municipalities in Saxony somehow muddling along with far too tight budgets.
Maybe from 2027
The P+R parking lot at Neue Messe could perhaps be integrated from 2027, the VTA admitted: “Following the above-mentioned resolution to update the framework plan, new measures will only be evaluated and prioritized with a further update for the years 2027/2028. If, however, the measure is to be planned for the period 2025/2026, this resolution must also contain a proposal as to which measure from the adopted framework plan it should be exchanged for.”
A clear statement. The building department can refer to several resolutions of the city council that called for exactly that: clear priority lists so that we know what can actually be implemented in the next two years.
The issue of disabled parking spaces is a bit more complicated, according to the VTA: “Relocating disabled parking spaces is not advisable, as there are also disabled parking spaces on Georg-Herwegh-Str. and there is certainly demand for the spaces directly at the S-Bahn station, even if the ramp to the tram stop is not barrier-free. Since barrier-free access to the S-Bahn station is basically available, although certainly not optimal, the construction of a new ramp is not seen as a priority.”
The ramp would have to be 100 meters long with a height difference of 8.5 meters. That would mean a lot of money that would have to be spent here. But the issue of poor water drainage is currently being examined, according to the VTA: “Currently, some of the planning constraints are being examined, such as intermodal mobility options and water-sensitive area design.”
The water should not simply flow away, but should be retained as close as possible if it does not seep into the parking lot.
Close, but rejected
And actually, that was the point at which Oliver Gebhardt should have rethought things. Because sometimes, just by reading the administrative proposals, you can tell whether they have a better chance of gaining a majority in the council. Especially if, as Gebhardt himself stated, they confirmed the request. Mayor Burkhard Jung specifically asked whether the administrative position was now up for vote. But Gebhardt insisted on his own proposal.
The proposal was then narrowly rejected by the Council Assembly, with 21 votes to 23 and twelve abstentions.
Somehow, in this last council meeting of the outgoing city council, it was already becoming clear how unpredictable many votes in the newly elected city council would be.
Oliver Gebhardt is also leaving now and said a very friendly goodbye to his fellow councillors, but above all he thanked his family, who had made it possible for him to work as a city councillor. We should perhaps not forget that working as a city councillor takes up a lot of free time and family time and is not possible without the people at home.
They are the ones who support the city councillors for five years so that they can work in the service of the citizens.