Tag: Anwohner

  • Bern is to get the greenest alley in Switzerland

    Bern is to get the greenest alley in Switzerland

    The Institute of Plant Sciences at the University of Bern wants to contribute to coping with climate change and biodiversity loss. To this end, the institute is tackling a project in Bern’s old town together with business partners and residents. Here, the Postgasse, a listed building, is to be transformed into the greenest alley in Switzerland, the University of Bern informs in a statement.

    “We are supporting residents in greening their own windowsills and outdoor areas with suitable plants,” project initiator Matthias Erb is quoted as saying in the statement. Afterwards, the researchers from the University of Bern want to study the effects of greening on the ambient temperature, biodiversity, water balance and quality of life in the Postgasse. “The collected data and experience from this pilot project should help Bern and other cities in the future to increase their sustainability and attractiveness even more quickly and easily,” explains Armin Komposch from the Institute of Plant Sciences.

    The companies Baumschule Gartenpflanzen Daepp, Ricoterand Zollinger Bio are contributing plants, seedlings and soil to the project. Plant containers with automatic irrigation are contributed by Boum AG. The young Bernese company was founded in 2021 as a spin-off of the University of Bern.

    The official start of the project is a planting day on 6 May. Here, interested residents can pick up plants, soil and pots to green the Postgasse as they see fit. The residents themselves are to take over the subsequent maintenance.

  • Litterna: Agreement finally reached

    Litterna: Agreement finally reached

    The people of Visper associate numerous memories with the Litterna Hall, built in 1978, as the hall was the home ground of EHC Visp from 1979 to 2019. Before the hall was demolished, the farewell was duly celebrated with a party in autumn 2019 – and at the same time the new ice sports and event hall, the Lonza Arena, was inaugurated. There has been a legally binding district plan for the Litterna site since 2018, which provides for several mixed-use residential and commercial buildings. Accordingly, the client Swiss Prime Investment Foundation planned to start construction work on the four buildings in total after the demolition of the hall in autumn 2020. However, a resident's objection to the planning application delayed the approval process. Nevertheless, the building application was approved by the Visper municipal council in December 2020, and the objection was rejected: the municipality argued that the buildings and facilities would correspond to the purpose and the district plan. The objector took his complaint further and reached the State Council in spring 2021. The Valais government also rejected the appeal against the municipality's decision, whereupon the objector went to the cantonal court as the next instance. However, before the Valais judiciary could make a further decision, the objectors and the client reached an agreement.

    The construction work on the approximately 15,700 m2 area, which is an important building block due to its location along the railway line and the proximity to the public transport hubs
    nothing stands in the way of the overarching settlement development of Visp. The four buildings will contain 138 rental apartments, commercial premises on the ground floors, a day-care center and a retail store. The first apartments should not be ready for occupancy until autumn 2023 at the earliest. The client Swiss Prime Investment Foundation is investing around 70 million Swiss francs in the Visper location. Total contractor is Eiffage Suisse, the construction work is being carried out by the Volken Group.