Revision of the local plan in Wilderswil (Ortsplanungsrevision Wilderswil)

Region

Eastern Bernese Oberland

Term 2005-11-01 - 2007-12-01

Short description: Community planning, including a community guideline, a zoning plan, a landscape development concept and a zoning plan of natural risks has been actualised by the community of Wilderswil. Thereby the local residents were included in a very early phase through a stakeholder workshop, a survey sent to all the households and a public discussion, during which a draft of a community guideline was developed. On the basis of this draft, a zoning plan and a landscape concept will be elaborated.

Projekt Executive Mr Ernest Germann
Planning firm PANORAMA
Sandrainstrasse 3, 3007 Bern, Switzerland
panorama@smile.ch
+41 31 326 44 44

Ansprechperson Mr Ernest Germann
Community of Wilderswil
Kirchgasse, 3812 Wilderswil, Switzerland
bauverwaltung@wilderswil.ch
+41 33 826 01 41

Project executive: The local commission for community planning can be considered as the executive of the process. It includes three members of the community authorities, an expert for security and environment and two members of the communal building commission. The professional executive of this planning process is a very experienced planner who designed the whole process and moderates the public events.

Participants: Local authorities of Wilderswil; local stakeholders of Wilderswil (workshop); residents of Wilderswil (survey)

Objectives: Improvement of the community development, in particular providing new building land, but also improving the trail network, landscape development and risk management

Activities: Developing a first draft of community development guideline in a stakeholder workshop (open also for interested persons); including all residents in the planning process by sending a questionnaire to all households

Process: Workshop phase; survey phase; public discussion phase; planning phase,public information phase; public voting

Results: Process is ongoing. Possible results will be that community land will be incorporated in building zone which allows the authorities to steer the settlement development. Discussed is also a "fairness zone" where the residents will have to find a consensus about the design of the new built up. Furthermore a higher diversity of building styles will be allowed in future (not only chalet style), but a high quality will be required.

Difficulties: One third of the residents participated in the survey but only 40 in the public discussion of the draft

Source of information

Homepage: http://www.wilderswil.ch; http://www.wilderswil.ch/aktuelles/mitteilungen.asp?PN=1

Comments

Impact on nature and environment: Objectives are: reflection of landscape development by the local residents; integration of a landscape development concept into community planning; adapted mobility concept (areas with 30km/h)

Economic value added: Objectives are: better steering of settlement development; opening and adaptation of the building regulations (so far only chalets allowed); potentially 200-400 new inhabitants; sustain high quality of the environment for tourism; new areas and facilities for local industry;

Socio-cultural value added: Very good involvement of the local population; better identification with the local development; horzontal and vertical networking activities

Innovative content: good public involvement: combining stakeholder workshops, public survey and public discussion of the community development draft; exceptional in today’s communal planning context; similar to the ambitious planning procedures in the 1980ies

Good governance: all the planning steps were communicated to the public in very divers ways; all the residents received a speech and additinal information (slides, maps) concerning the planning process

PR impact: See above; the PR impact in the regional newspapers can be considered as very strong

Multiplier effect / networking: All the players of the community were integrated. A short report is available on the internet and can accessed by other communities and planners

Transferability: This approach could be transferred to regions where communities have a high amount of autonomy and autonomous financial resources (taxes). The approach could be applied in other sectors such as management of natural hazards or nature protection areas

Further information