Criticism

Shrinking mode in the state green zone

The members of the Alliance for Ground Clearance are anything but happy.

(Bild: Allianz für Bodenfreiheit)

Twelve illegally established farms in the Vorarlberg state green zone are now causing the protected area to shrink by 9.5 hectares.

As the state of Vorarlberg announced in a press release, the state green zone will be reduced - by 0.07 percent. This corresponds to an area of around 9.5 hectares. The reason for the removal is twelve farms that have been built in the protection zone. In 2022, the Constitutional Court came to the conclusion that the construction of farms in the provincial green zone is illegal - even if special permits have been granted, as in the cases mentioned above.

The solution: the state removes the built-up areas from the protection zone. "This measure serves the legal adjustment to the ruling of the Constitutional Court (VfGH) from 2022 and has no effect on the actual use of the respective areas," says the state government.

We call on the provincial government to compensate for every area taken from our green lung without replacement

Bernie Weber, Grüne

Temporary dedications proposed
The Greens, for example, are less than enthusiastic about this approach. They criticize the state government for taking specially dedicated and built-up areas out of the state green zone and simply redesignating them as operational areas - without making any corresponding compensation. "The state government is thus undermining our state green zone. We are calling on the state government to compensate for every area taken from our green lung without replacement," explains Green Party spatial planning spokesperson Bernie Weber. The Alliance for Ground Clearance is also extremely dissatisfied: Turning the special areas into operational areas without any restrictions is the worst of all solutions. The association has been in favor of temporary dedications for years.