Higher Administrative Court decision on the Garzweiler property by the end of March

MÜNSTER (dpa-AFX) – The North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court (OVG) intends to decide by the end of March on the use of land in the village of Lützerath for the Garzweiler opencast lignite mine. The OVG announced this on Friday at the annual press conference in Münster.

The proceedings concern the complaints of three residents near the edge of the lignite open-pit mine. In summary proceedings, they are suing against the early assignment of the land to the opencast mine operator RWE Power. In the first instance, the urgent applications were rejected by the Aachen Administrative Court in October 2021. The plaintiffs are a farmer based in Lützerath and two tenants of a residential building.

Largely abandoned by its original residents, the site has become a symbol of the anti-lignite movement. Activists who want to prevent the site from being used for opencast mining are camping in a tent camp. As in the Hambach Forest, some tree houses were built. Whether there will be further protests depends on the OVG’s decision.

The energy company RWE wants to carry out preparatory measures for the excavation, such as clearing work and the demolition of buildings, on the site, which is located in the middle of fields. The Arnsberg district government had given RWE Power AG ownership of the land ahead of schedule. This is intended to prepare for the transfer of ownership due to several lawsuits./uho/DP/zb