Building projects Cantonal Council examines shorter leash for heritage protection and environmental associations

The Zurich Cantonal Council is examining whether it wants to give heritage protection and environmental associations a shorter leash - at least when it comes to healthcare and educational buildings. On Monday, it provisionally supported a parliamentary initiative (PI) from the conservatives.

The parliamentary initiative by the FDP, EPP, Center Party and SVP, which calls for a restriction of the right to appeal to associations, received 93 votes. 60 votes were required for provisional support.

The initiative will now go to the responsible committee and will then return to Parliament. The conservatives argued that the heritage protection and environmental associations were pursuing a "3V" strategy: "delay, make more expensive, make impossible". This had to be changed, said Markus Schaaf (EVP, Zell).

The SVP was of the same opinion. René Truninger (Illnau-Effretikon) said that the right of association complaints should be reduced to a "reasonable level". If the PI were implemented, associations would no longer be able to appeal against buildings in the education and health sectors.

A current example is the conversion of the barracks into an educational facility, where the Heritage Society is appealing because of the glass roof. Another example is the listed buildings of the university hospital, which need to be renovated.

"Putting troublemakers out of business"

The left-wing side of the council did not support the relaxation. "I can understand the anger about heritage protection to a certain extent," said Andrew Katumba (SP, Zurich). "After years of planning, you are slowed down in the final meters. So it makes sense to want to put the troublemakers out of business." However, the proposal curtails democratic rights in our canton. Moreover, "short-term relief should not be preferred to long-term damage".

The Greens also refused their support. The PI is questionable in terms of the rule of law, said Thomas Schweizer (Hedingen). "The introduction of legal inequality depending on use does not exactly serve legal certainty."

On Monday, Parliament also supported a second PI from the conservatives, which aims to combine the right of appeal for associations with a financial component.

According to this PI, the financial interests of public institutions should be weighted more heavily than the interests of associations. For example, if the conversion of a hospital becomes much more expensive because of heritage protection, it should be possible to restrict heritage protection. This proposal received 88 votes.