WWF demands on the occasion of the spatial planning summit in Linz
On the occasion of the summit of the regional planning councillors in Linz today (29 February), the environmental protection organization WWF is presenting a seven-point package of demands to the federal states. Particularly urgent are an ecologization of spatial planning, stricter settlement boundaries and a nature conservation offensive. In addition, the state governments should triple the renovation rate, make better use of vacant buildings and restrict road construction.
"Austria is extremely wasteful with valuable soils. All federal states must therefore massively reduce their soil consumption. Continuing as before must not be an option," says WWF soil protection spokesman Simon Pories. The environmental organization demands that the federal states give up their "irresponsible blockade" of binding nationwide targets in the soil strategy on the one hand and do their homework on the other. Austria has wanted to limit soil consumption to 2.5 hectares per day since 2002, but still falls five times short of this target.
"The provincial governments must urgently take measures to stop the uncontrolled growth of business parks, parking lots and scattered settlements," demands Simon Pories from WWF. In many cases, the land-saving objectives of spatial planning laws are not sufficiently observed in zoning and construction projects. At the same time, the federal states only make selective use of their regional planning options. One negative example is the business park in the Upper Austrian municipality of Ohlsdorf, for which around 20 hectares of forest were cleared. According to the Court of Audit, the state did not adequately review the rezoning. "The Ohlsdorf case illustrates how fields, meadows and forests are regularly sacrificed for the profits of a few people. However, we can assume that this is just the tip of the iceberg," says Pories.
WWF demands in detail
1. reform spatial planning
Due to short-sighted economic interests or irrelevant interventions, questionable rezoning and individual approvals occur time and again - far away from settlement boundaries and connections to public transport and other infrastructure. Politicians must therefore make it more difficult to exploit the exceptions and tighten the legal requirements for zoning. These steps would provide transparent guidance for local councils as municipal zoning authorities and promote land-saving development. In addition, the federal states must regulate the construction of business and commercial zones more strictly.
2. anchor binding settlement boundaries
The federal states should draw up regional plans for all municipalities which, in addition to ecological and agricultural priority zones, also provide for binding settlement boundaries that restrict uncontrolled urban sprawl. Unlike in the past, this regional planning must avoid loopholes and be transparent.
World Soil Day: We urgently need to limit our soil consumption
3. restrict road construction
Almost half of the sealed surfaces are traffic areas. In addition, the construction of new roads, especially major bypasses, often leads to the establishment of additional industrial areas, which in turn creates new traffic problems. For this reason, the federal states must revise their road projects (state roads) in a climate-friendly manner, and stricter rules are needed for municipalities when it comes to construction.
4. designate more protected areas
Austria has not yet participated in achieving the EU biodiversity targets. Across the EU, 30 percent of land and marine areas are to be legally protected, a third of which should be strictly protected. All protected areas are to be equipped with effective management. An EU infringement procedure for inadequate implementation of Natura 2000 shows the need for improvement. As a first step, the WWF has therefore identified 35 regions, 30 habitat types and 21 species that need to be better protected.
5. mobilize vacancies
According to the Federal Environment Agency, more than 40,000 hectares of vacant and brownfield land could be reused instead of building on valuable land. Politicians and authorities should therefore set up an Austria-wide vacancy database, for example, which must be checked before any new land is allocated. In general, regular monitoring and more transparency are needed in every municipality.
6. promote renovation and compact construction
Refurbishing buildings not only increases energy efficiency, but also quality of life and usability. For this reason, housing subsidies should be earmarked for specific purposes and made more ecological - with incentives for compact and multi-storey construction methods as well as funding for comprehensive renovations. The aim is to triple the annual renovation rate of around 1.5 percent.
7. strengthen municipal supervision
The provincial governments must exercise their supervisory function for municipalities to a greater extent. Particularly in the case of spatial planning decisions (local development concepts, zoning plans, development plans), it must be consistently checked whether these are compatible with the overarching objectives and do not just serve individual interests.
