Politicians and residents protested against the conversion of a listed park on the Spree in Mitte.
Berlin should become a pioneer in terms of climate protection. Red-Green-Red has set this goal in the coalition agreement. This includes the protection of green areas, the unsealing of areas, new infiltration areas.
Ironically, an environmental councilor from the Greens is now asphalting a park for a biker slope in Mitte!
Against the will of many residents, Almut Neumann (38) gave the starting signal for the construction of the so-called Spreeradweg. It is to run on the Schleswig and Holstein shores three meters wide from the district boundary of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf to Bellevue Palace.
Workers have already uprooted bushes, bulldozers are flattening the lawn, the old willows have fallen for the preliminary search for ammunition. According to the announcement, even paved sections will be replaced with solid pavement.
Residents complain that they could not see the plans. “Here a grown biotope is being destroyed for a high-speed asphalt railway,” scolds Christa Spannbauer (58) from the Spreeradweg initiative. Every year, nightingales and robins nest in hawthorn, euonymus and willow cats, and bats roost here.
Spannbauer emphasizes: “This riverside park is a shelter for local residents, especially for mothers with children and the elderly. That will be destroyed by the planned race track.”
Gabriele Cocozza, CDU MP from Mitte, is also appalled: “This path was a path of relaxation and mindfulness. Cyclists and pedestrians respect each other. Now it is becoming a lane for fast cyclists.” The Greens and SPD rejected a CDU motion to stop construction in the BVV.
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The fact that a building permit was granted for the project at all – piquant. Because the waterfront promenade is a listed complex! “In exceptional cases, the preservation of monuments agrees to adapting the surface of the paths to the increased pressure of use and decimated maintenance budgets,” said the astonishing statement of a spokeswoman for the State Monuments Office.
City Councilor Neumann defends the controversial conversion: “The biotope remains largely untouched,” said the Greens politician to the BZ. “So we don’t cut down any trees and only remove from the hedges what is absolutely necessary for the construction work.”
She emphasizes: “It will be a great place where, for example, families with small children can go on a bike tour.” Planning documents are currently being prepared and will be put online at the end of next week.
The total costs for the Spreeradweg in the Mitte district are expected to be around 7.8 million euros. Of this, 90 percent is provided by federal funds. Ten percent comes from the State of Berlin as an equity contribution.