The sports field in Pfaffendorf has not only achieved notoriety in Saxon Switzerland because of its poor condition. The fight for a refurbishment, which has been going on for years, has also spread nationwide. For around 15 years, the Pfaffendorfer footballers have been struggling to get proper turf under their feet.
The surface they play on hardly deserves the word “green”. The floor is rock hard and looks more like a hard court. Pointed stones and tufts of grass stick out. Among the football teams that play an away game here, it is therefore considered the worst football pitch in the Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains district. Some even claim that it is the worst place in all of East Saxony.
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Kummer’s election promise is on the brink
A problem that the city of Königstein is well known. The municipality has already made several attempts to renovate. They always failed. After Tobias Kummer (CDU) took over the post of mayor in 2015, new hope sprouted. His election promise: With him as councilor, the sports field in the Pfaffendorf district will be renovated.
That was six years ago. So far there has been no construction in Pfaffendorf – the resistance in the city council was too great. With the new double budget for 2021 and 2022, which must be approved by the city council, Kummer has now started again. Königstein wants to stick to the renovation of the soccer field. That is why the project was included in the new budget – with a total cost of around 1.2 million euros.
Although the key points of the budget were discussed in closed retreats with the city councils and, according to Mayor Kummer, there were no objections to this: In the public meeting, the planned renovation of the sports field sparked a controversy. This came from the free voters. City councilor Frieder Haase (Free Voters) called for the project to be postponed to 2023.
Free voters want to block the budget
He described the financial situation as “dramatic”. Königstein currently only has liquid funds of 1.8 million euros available. Further loss of income is to be feared due to the corona crisis. The amount can hardly be calculated. Haase spoke out in favor of Königstein having to push through moderate tax increases in view of the financial situation. The sports field in Pfaffendorf is too big a financial burden. Especially since nobody currently knows the exact construction costs. “The Free Voters will not decide on the draft like this,” Haase made clear.
The battle of strength for the household was thus opened. The councils discussed the Pfaffendorf sports field alone for more than an hour. Mayor Tobias Kummer again emphasized how important the renovation is. The project was blocked for 14 years – by the free voters. The place is now the worst in the entire district and gives a “ridiculous” image, as Kummer put it. “You are partly responsible for that,” he said to Haase, who was mayor of Königstein until 2015.
The fact that 1.2 million euros are put into an association that has just 24 members “gives me stomach ache,” said Andreas Müller (Free Voters). “We have to ask ourselves why the association currently has so few members,” countered CDU city councilor Anne Haenisch. As the mother of two small children, she is now asking herself which sports club she will one day put the offspring in. In one who has potential. Haenisch sees that in Pfaffendorf – when the square is renovated accordingly. “The association has collected donations itself and is more than committed – also in Koenigstein. This willingness to perform threatens to decline,” she fears if the municipality again puts off the redevelopment.
Quarrels bring Königstein into disrepute
Even CDU city councilor Tobias Eibenstein was unable to understand that the major project was being talked to death shortly by the budget decision. The questions about the budget were discussed together in advance. There were no major objections to this. Well the complete opposite. “If we push the project, it leads to massive resentment in the association. That is exactly why there is a decline in membership,” said Eibenstein. The indecision and arguments in the city council would damage Königstein. “If investors find out how things are going here, nobody will come back,” he said.
In order to calm the minds, Eibenstein asked for an interruption of the session. Each political group should use the time to think about how to proceed now. Because with the threat of the Free Voters not to decide on the budget if the Pfaffendorf sports field turned up as an investment in it, there was little room for maneuver. Also because the Free Voters, with Mario Bauch from the Left, as a parliamentary group, form the strongest voting force in the Council.
Free voters make the final condition
After the short break, the decision followed. Before that, Frieder Haase spoke again for the Free Voters. “For the sake of peace, and so that no other projects are prevented”, they want to approve the budget presented. Haase made this a condition. According to this, the construction costs for the Pfaffendorf sports field are to be blocked with a total of 1.2 million euros. More money should not flow into the project. A compromise that all councils finally bowed to and unanimously approved the budget.
Mayor Tobias Kummer can still keep his election promise. However, he doesn’t have much time left. Because his term of office will end in the coming year – and the Königsteiners will be faced with another election.
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