After the decision of the Leipzig city council, the city of Leipzig has spoken out against further expansion of the airport in the West Saxony regional plan. But politics and airport companies are clearly driving forward the expansion plans. And to date, the city, in which at least 60,000 people are directly affected by aircraft noise, has not even been asked to comment on the expansion plans.
What prompted the Greens in the Leipzig city council to submit an application in March: “The city administration is tasked with examining the extensive airport expansion planned by Flughafen Leipzig / Halle GmbH, a subsidiary of Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG, by an independent law firm for administrative law to let whether or to what extent the expansion plans in question only require or claim a plan change procedure or a new plan approval procedure. “
If the term “plan change procedure” is used, the airport company builds on a plan approval decision, the important promises of which have not been kept to this day.
For example, the Greens listed: “The original planning approval decision (PFV) is over 16 years old. The commitments made at the time, such as “flying around Leipzig”, “even rail distribution” etc. were not kept or implemented. The old PFV (from 2004) was buggy; Measures were taken in the legislative part of the PFV, which the planning approval authority should at best have identified as a recommendation (flight routes, ground traffic / rail distribution, etc.). The construction measures that are being planned should result in an increase in capacity of up to 100% compared to the current status (for DHL on the Southern Railway alone, the capacity should be increased by 60%). “
The Department of Urban Development and Construction does not want to take the step immediately. Because it is still unclear whether and when participation by the municipalities concerned is planned.
“Planning approval authority for Leipzig / Halle Airport is, according to § 1 of the decree of the Saxon State Government on the planning approval authority according to the Aviation Act, the State Directorate of Leipzig” emphasizes the planning department. There you first have to inquire whether a corresponding legally compliant participation is planned.
Because: According to Section 8 of the Aviation Act, airports may only be created or changed if the plan has been approved beforehand. For this purpose, a formalized procedure is carried out, which includes the participation of the persons and authorities concerned. Deviations from this may only be made if the rights of others are not or only insignificantly impaired or if the data subjects have given their consent to the exercise of their rights. In this case, behavior must be established with the public authorities, ”emphasizes the planning department.
“The city of Leipzig assumes that its concerns are significantly affected by the planned expansion of the airport and that a formal planning approval procedure must therefore be carried out. Against this background, in order to avoid unnecessary legal fees, an attempt should first be made to get to know the expected procedural route from the competent authority. Only in the event of negative information – which is currently not expected – does the required legal consultation be required. “
The department’s statement also emphasizes that the initiative to prevent the expansion of the airport even corresponds to the city’s Integrated Urban Development Concept (INSEK). So the Greens’ proposal is not rejected, but would like to proceed in two steps.
The first: “The Lord Mayor is asked to contact the responsible planning approval authority for the airport expansion immediately and to inquire whether, when, in what form and to what extent the city of Leipzig is expected to participate in the planning process for the Leipzig / Halle airport expansion . “
Apparently even the administration is excited to see what information they will get.
Because the planning department sees the second step requested by the Greens as a logical consequence if the state directorate has not provided for the city’s involvement: to evaluate the legality of this decision as well as possible options for action by the city of Leipzig. “
Which does not mean that Leipzig will also complain. Because then it’s about a lot of money again: “Should the planning approval authority, contrary to expectations, refuse to carry out a comprehensive planning approval procedure, legal fees will be incurred, the exact amount of which cannot currently be quantified.”
Then there would be a legal dispute between the city of Leipzig and the Free State of Saxony and the already smoldering conflict between the state government and the city of Leipzig would reach a new level. And an airport expansion is the completely wrong signal against the background of global warming and the enormous pollution caused by the growing cargo air traffic.
By installing the millions there, they are missing for the really environmentally friendly modes of transport. And the course for a crisis-proof regional production is set too late. This is precisely what the corona pandemic has shown: How much a country like Germany is dependent on deliveries from China even in such a situation because even system-relevant productions – such as those of masks and protective clothing – have been completely outsourced to Asia.
The expansion policy of Leipzig / Halle Airport is causing more and more trouble in Leipzig
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