Waldeggsee Initiative
The Waldeggsee Initiative , with the full title Waldeggsee - Initiative: Year 2000 - a lake for Winterthur , was a popular initiative in the city of Winterthur that demanded the creation of a lake in Winterthur. The Winterthur artist Erwin Schatzmann was in charge of the initiative . The initiative was submitted on September 19, 1996 with 1,372 valid signatures and was rejected by the Winterthur electorate on February 7, 1999.
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The initiative, which originally emerged from a municipal ideas competition, required the creation of a 5- hectare, 5-meter-deep lake in a depression in the triangle of Mattenbach , Waldeggstrasse and Waldeggweg. The lake would have been located south of the urban district of Mattenbach on the northern edge of the Eschenberg forest in the area of an already planned flood retention basin . The lake should not serve as a nature conservation biotope, but as a bathing lake for the Winterthur population, who otherwise had no lake. A loan of 15 million Swiss francs should be granted for this.
history
After submitting the initiative, the city council commissioned a feasibility study. This showed that the water quality of the Mattenbach is sufficient to implement the idea. The study put the costs for the lake at CHF 16 to 20 million, which is above the credit required by the initiative. According to the study, an excavation of 350,000 cubic meters of earth would have been necessary for the lake and the subsoil would have had to be partially sealed. After the submission, the initiators also brought further variants of the lake into discussion, including a variant that was half the size and costing only 6.5 to 8 million francs, which would have been entirely on urban land.
In the municipal council, the initiative was first dealt with by the preliminary advisory audit committee, which recommended the initiative to the large municipal council for rejection with 7 against 3 votes. This dealt with the submission on September 20, 1998. In the local council debate it was criticized that the lake was unnecessary and too expensive and actually not a real lake at all. In addition, due to the shallow depth, strong algae formation was feared. It was also stated that Winterthur would already have enough outdoor swimming pools . Only the SP endorsed the project, as it would improve the quality of life in the city and serve a large part of the population. The proposal was finally rejected in the final vote with 36 against 13 votes.
The vote on the Waldeggsee was set for February 7th, 1999 after the discussion in parliament six months later. Even before the vote on the lake, the townspeople of Winterthur approved the construction of the Deutweg ice rink for the first time on November 29, 1998 for 20 million Swiss francs, an amount similar to that of the Waldeggsee. The discussion on the Waldeggsee was followed by the media in the run-up to the vote, the Tages-Anzeiger took the side of the initiative proponents in contrast to the locally anchored Landbote . There were even reports about the Waldeggsee from abroad. For the initiative, the Tages-Anzeiger drew attention to the fact that there are already artificially created swimming lakes in Switzerland, such as the Drei Weieren in St. Gallen and the Lai Barnagn in the Savognin . In the run-up to the initiative, part of the population expressed solidarity with the farming family, who would have had to give up part of their land for the lake. Schatzmann, as the head of the initiative, was also heavily criticized. The main point of criticism, however, remained the financial aspect of this unusual project, which was also criticized by the government, so that the Waldeggsee was finally sent bachab by three quarters of the Winterthur population.
The initiative was successful: after the initiative was rejected, the city council set up a working group to check whether the Schützenweiher , Dättnauerweiher , Walcheweier and Kemptweiher can be released for bathing. As a result, bathing in the first three ponds mentioned was permitted at your own risk in June 2000, while it was forbidden in the Dättnauerweiher, as it is located in a nature reserve.
Referendum result
The initiative was clearly rejected on February 7, 1999 by the Winterthur electorate with a 25.3% yes vote and 50.6% participation.
| circle | Yes (%) | No (%) | Participation |
|---|---|---|---|
| city | 32.1% | 67.9% | 51.0% |
| Oberwinterthur | 23.1% | 76.9% | 49.1% |
| Lakes | 24.3% | 75.7% | 54.9% |
| Töss | 23.0% | 77.0% | 44.3% |
| Veltheim | 26.6% | 73.4% | 54.3% |
| Wülflingen | 22.3% | 77.7% | 46.7% |
| Mattenbach | 22.8% | 77.2% | 51.0% |
| Total | 25.3% | 74.7% | 50.6% |
Web links
- Official website of the initiative ( Memento of March 30, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- Media release from the city of Winterthur rejecting the initiative
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Waldeggsee Initiative. (No longer available online.) Waldeggsee Association, archived from the original on January 22, 2011 ; accessed on August 18, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c Waldeggsee not financially sustainable. (No longer available online.) City of Winterthur, March 18, 1998, archived from the original on August 23, 2016 ; accessed on August 18, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b ballot from 07.02.1999 - people's initiative creation Waldeggsee. City of Winterthur, accessed on August 18, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Irmgard Locher: No Sommerthur and no Winterthur au Lac . In: Stuttgarter Zeitung . February 10, 1999, p. 16 .
- ↑ a b c See unnecessary and too expensive for Winterthur . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . September 22, 1998, p. 55 .
- ↑ Different variants. (No longer available online.) Waldeggsee Association, archived from the original on January 22, 2011 ; accessed on August 24, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ RPK against Waldeggsee . In: Tages-Anzeiger . 4th September 1998.
- ↑ Winterthur votes on a lake. (No longer available online.) In: Stadtliebe. Winterthur libraries, archived from the original on August 18, 2016 ; accessed on August 18, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Stefan Hotz: Winterthur: A lake is approaching . In: Basler Zeitung . No. 26 , July 1, 1999, p. 6 .
- ↑ Swimming pond: check options. (No longer available online.) City of Winterthur, May 19, 1999, archived from the original on August 23, 2016 ; accessed on August 22, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Waldeggsee not financially viable. (No longer available online.) City of Winterthur, June 14, 2000, archived from the original on August 23, 2016 ; accessed on August 22, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 47 ° 29 '16.3 " N , 8 ° 44' 43.1" E ; CH1903: six hundred ninety-eight thousand four hundred seventy-four / 260497