City council decision: CDU's unsuccessful horseback charge against environmentally-conscious politicians + Multimedia content provided

In a recent meeting, the Leipzig city council initiated discussions on the Economic Traffic Development Plan (WVEP). The plan aims to address future challenges for economic traffic in the city and devise measures to tackle them.

The consultative committee for the WVEP includes various organizations such as the Leipzig Chamber of Industry and Commerce, ADAC, ADFC, Oekoloewe, and the Mobility and Infrastructure Department (MTA). However, the application of the CDU faction was narrowly rejected with 30:35 votes.

The discussion involves various aspects of economic traffic, including parking spaces for delivery services, care services, parcel deliverers, workshop vehicles of craftsmen, moving companies, construction vehicles, goods delivery, and corresponding loading zones. The goal is also to increase the share of emission-free traffic, achieved by shifting economic traffic to alternative means of transport and integrating new logistics concepts.

Cargo bike transport will play a role in Leipzig's economic traffic and is already in use today. CDU councilor Marcus Mündlein, however, expressed his disregard for cargo bike transports.

CDU councilor Markus Muendlein proposed a focus on speed limits in the design of economic traffic. This suggestion was met with criticism from the chairwoman of the Greens faction, Kristina Weyh, and the chairwoman of the Left faction, Franziska Riekewald, who called it populist and nonsense.

SPD councilor Andreas Geisler pointed out the importance of perceiving the viewpoints of other city residents, not just one's own clique. FDP councilor Sven Morlok questioned the society that ignores and dismisses other opinions and silences them, citing the example of Donald Trump in the USA.

The MTA emphasized the importance of providing areas for safe and efficient delivery, loading, and performance to maintain city supply and realize the city of short distances. The Oekoloewe environmental association, active in Leipzig's city politics for 35 years but not economically active, was criticized by the CDU and AfD for lack of insights into economic traffic needs.

The MTA also rejected the application to retroactively strike individual actors from the agreed participant circle in the consultative committee. Sven Morlok expressed that if he did not run for the next city council election, he would be missed due to his role in reminding the council of the importance of democracy and different opinions.

The voting result shows that there are now three complete factions in the Leipzig city council that think similarly, suggesting a trend towards populism. The parties represented in the Leipzig city council majority that reject cooperation with the environmental association Ökolöwe and promote a narrow range of opinions in the council are primarily the CDU and AfD.

The goals for economic traffic are subordinate to the goals of the mobility strategy, with the aim of shifting traffic growth to the environmental network to ensure safe and smooth economic traffic. The WVEP is expected to have a significant impact on the city's economic landscape and sustainability efforts.

City council decision: CDU's unsuccessful horseback charge against environmentally-conscious politicians + Multimedia content provided