Malente fights: Citizens' request saves a sports hall from demolition!

Malente fights: Citizens' request saves a sports hall from demolition!

Malente. An impressive sign of citizen participation: In just two weeks, 1451 painters signed for the preservation of the sports hall in the ring road! Markus Borchardt, the head behind this initiative, proudly handed over the signature lists to Mayor Heiko Godow (CDU). "A self -run," says Borchardt, who went from door to door and often didn't even have to explain why the hall should stay. Many citizens literally waited for the opportunity to give up their vote!

The background is explosive: the municipal council had decided to convert the sports hall into refugee accommodation. However, the conversion plans met with massive problems, and now the demolition for a container village with up to 135 residents threatens. The resistance is growing, and Borchardt and his supporters have far exceeded the goal of 1,000 votes with their collection of signatures. "22 out of 25 citizens mentioned have signed," reported Ralf Brokelmann and confirmed the broad backing of the population.

The next steps

Now the ball lies with the local supervision of the Ostholstein district, which must check whether the formalities for a citizens' request are met. Mayor Godow is optimistic: "We assume that the input is formally permitted." If the demolition is not withdrawn, there could soon be a citizens' decision. But the plans for new refugee accommodation are also available: the neighboring sports field could be considered as an alternative, which would further complicate the situation.