Dear fellow citizens,
In the last few days, leaflets from the "Initiative against the "Gemeindeallmende" industrial area, for the implementation of which a development plan procedure is currently underway in the Winnweiler district of Alsenbrück-Langmeil, have been distributed in almost all local communities in the Winnweiler municipality. As the text of the leaflet contains content that is factually incorrect, I would like to take this opportunity to present the view of the local municipality of Winnweiler, which is conducting the proceedings:
1. land consumption:
IG Lorenhek, OG Lohnsfeld, B-plan legally binding:
Area covered by B-plan: 17.5 ha
of which public green space 3.4 ha
of which new sealing 10.0 ha
IG Hinterthal, OG Winnweiler, B-plan legally binding:
Area covered by B-plan: 11.6 ha
of which green space and
Surface water retention 1.7 ha
of which new sealing 7.5 ha
IG Gemeindeallmende, OG Winnweiler, B-plan in process:
Area covered by B-plan: 20.3 ha
of which not buildable on 5.7 ha
of which newly sealed 13 ha
This means a total of around 30.5 hectares of new sealing, which corresponds to half of the 60 hectares stated. This does not take into account the fact that the roof areas all have to be greened.
2. 5 x more traffic
It is undisputed that the establishment of companies and the associated creation of jobs will generate additional traffic. The fact that the three industrial areas can all be reached from the highway without using a through road suggests that there will be no additional traffic in the surrounding villages. The LBM will build traffic lights at three junctions (A63/B48, B48//L401). These costs will also be borne by the investors, plus a one-off payment for future maintenance.
3. financial risks:
There are no financial risks for the public sector. All costs are to be borne by the respective investors via existing urban development contracts and development agreements. On the contrary, the establishment of the relevant companies is expected to generate trade tax revenue and inward migration, which will have an impact on income tax shares. Higher population figures will also result in higher key allocations. Property tax B instead of property tax A will also have to be paid by the owners of land in the I areas in future, which will lead to significantly higher revenues for the municipality. In combination with the various higher revenues mentioned above, it can be assumed that the municipal tax burden on the general public can be reduced.
In a letter to the members of the local and association councils, the initiative also suggested that there could be problems with wastewater and surface water disposal and therefore higher sewer charges. The opposite is the case. The issues relating to the discharge and treatment of wastewater and surface water have been clarified and are not problematic. The Winnweiler sewage treatment plant currently has 9,000 population equivalents of 24,000 PE unused. All investment costs for the public infrastructure (roads, water, wastewater, traffic lights) are borne by the investor. The investor must pay this contribution to VG-Werke for the entire area that has not yet been included in the contribution for initial construction. As the facilities have all already been built, VG-Werke does not incur any additional costs. However, they will generate a seven-figure sum, which will relieve all fee and contribution payers accordingly. Of course, recurring contributions are then also levied for the properties and ongoing fees are paid, which also reduces the overall burden on all contributors.
As a result, no one needs to worry about participating in the collection of recurring contributions for road construction, as the I-areas, analogous to the "Am Stundenstein" procedure, form a separate billing unit in which only the respective residents are involved in the road construction.
4. lack of transparency
Since the beginning of the deliberations on the designation of I-zones in the area of the BAB 63/ B 48 and L 401, this topic has repeatedly been the subject of resolutions in public meetings of various municipal bodies, each of which has also been reported on in the official gazette and on the homepage of the local municipality of Winnweiler. In addition, all minutes of public meetings are freely accessible to everyone on the Internet.
The topic was discussed in the following meetings:
- 10.04.2017 - Alsenbrück-Langmeil local advisory council, decision on the planning of the industrial area
- 02.05.2017 - Local municipal council, decision on planning for the industrial area
- 18.01.2018 - Association municipal council, resolution on application to the West Palatinate planning community for inclusion of the areas in the regional spatial development plan (ROP)
- 20.01.-19.03.2021 - Public display of the documents as part of the early public participation for the FLNP update
- 31.03.2022 - Local council, resolution: Areas from ROP and FNPL are to be adopted and developed
- 23.11.2023 - Local council, resolution on conclusion of urban development contract, cooperation agreement with OG Lohnsfeld
- 25.06.2024 - Local council, resolution to prepare the site
- 19.07.2024 - Public announcement of the decision to prepare the project Official Gazette and Internet
- 17.01.2025 - Public announcement of cooperation agreement Official Journal and Internet
- 24.06.2025 - Local council, decision on early participation B-Plan
The corresponding B-Plan was in the early participation phase from 04.08.2025 to 08.09.2025, i.e. all documents were on public display and could also be viewed by anyone on the Internet. Anyone was able to submit suggestions and concerns until 08.09.2025.
At the meeting of the Alsenbrück-Langmeil local advisory council on 30.07.2025, the history of the development of the area was outlined in a presentation and numerous questions, which had previously been submitted to the head of the local council, were answered in detail.
I cannot understand how a lack of transparency can be inferred here. With regard to the question of which companies are relocating, it should be borne in mind that companies generally only want to publicly announce that they are relocating to a particular site once all the framework conditions have been clarified and the land purchase agreement has been signed. This is not yet the case. However, the stipulations in the development plan guarantee that undesirable sectors are excluded. In the same way, the TH-Lärm stipulates which noise levels may reach the houses in the residential area at which time of day and night. The fact that it is an industrial area is not decisive here. The decisive factor is that it is a general residential area. The values would therefore be the same for a mixed area instead of an IG. The state planning guidelines, which only permit regionally significant settlements, also guarantee that there will be no urban sprawl or the settlement of logistics companies that only employ three forklift drivers.
The municipality and the investor have also already announced that a public information event will be held after the early participation stage, when the results of this participation stage have been incorporated into the planning, to provide information on the current status of the planning at that time. Only then will the local advisory council and the local council deal with the issue again in a joint meeting. This will then be followed by another public participation format, in which all documents will once again be publicly accessible and suggestions and concerns can once again be incorporated into the process.
Incidentally, all inquiries I have received on the subject, whether in person or in writing, have been answered very promptly.
Rudolf Jacob
Mayor and local mayor
Further information: