Criticism from the Court of Auditors

Climate sins? The mayor’s collar bursts!

(Bild: Christian Lendl)

Wiener Neustadt has long had a bad reputation as the "Lower Austrian concrete capital". Unjustly, as the town hall emphasizes. The fact that the Court of Audit has now accused the city of failing to protect the climate is hotly rejected by Mayor Klaus Schneeberger.  

Harsh words are currently being exchanged between Wiener Neustadt and Vienna. "The ladies and gentlemen of the Court of Audit are closing their eyes to reality", their report on measures to combat climate change in Wiener Neustadt is "incomplete, abbreviated and populist". City boss Klaus Schneeberger is audibly outraged by the criticism of the state auditors.

The auditors of Court of Audit President Margit Kraker take Wiener Neustadt to task.

(Bild: Rechnungshof/Vyhlanek)

Heat islands and soil erosion
They accuse Wiener Neustadt of paying too little attention to climate protection. The city has a "pronounced risk of heat islands" and the sealed surface area has "increased significantly", the auditors conclude. Two current projects in particular are critically examined - the "Maximilium am Stadtpark", where offices, apartments and an educational campus are being built on the former Leiner site, and the eastern bypass. The former would "further increase the high risk of heat islands in the city center", while the road construction is "in conflict with climate and environmental policy goals as well as food security". Soil would be sealed as a result and agricultural land would be lost.

All in all, reading this report by the Court of Audit falls more into the category of science fiction or biased information.

Klaus Schneeberger, Bürgermeister von Wiener Neustadt

Bild: P. Huber

80 percent not sealed
"This criticism from the Court of Audit misses the mark by far," counters Schneeberger. There had been constructive cooperation with the auditors, but this had "fizzled out ineffectively". The Maximilium is not a project of the city, they have been negotiating climate protection measures with the investor for years. And most of the eastern bypass does not run through the city. In addition, Wiener Neustadt is 80 percent unsealed. Schneeberger concludes: "This report is not worthy of a respected authority such as the Austrian Court of Audit!"

With the climate roadmap, the city wants to further expand climate protection.

(Bild: Stadt Wiener Neustadt/Weller)

City decrees climate protection
The municipal council has now even adopted a "climate roadmap" with measures up to 2040. In four fields of action - mobility & transport, energy, waste and planning & governance - the aim is to improve climate protection in the city step by step.