Taking legal action now "the only option"

As has previously been reported, plans are afoot to demolish 13 multi-dwelling units with 80 flats on the Gartenstadt estate on Hertistrasse and Aabachstrasse, much to the disapproval of the residents, who are mainly pensioners, foreigners and single-parent families.
 
The houses earmarked for demolition were actually built shortly after thre end of World War II to accommodate employees of the nearby Landis+Gyr factory, and included in later years in a city-scape protected zone.
 
However, this latter fact has not been able to prevent their planned demolition and future replacement by nine new buildings designed by the Haratori GmbH firm of architects of Zurich. In accordance with current cantonal policy, there will be a much greater density within the new development, too.
 
A petition organised by the Pro Gartenstadt Zug Committee (KPGZ), signed by 1,200 people and handed over to the cantonal government earlier this year led to nothing.
 
Astrid Estermann, a member of the Alternative Green Party and herself a resident of the estate, is organising opposition to the redevelopment and said on Wednesday that taking the matter to court was now the only option left. To this end, she is raising funds to ensure legal bills can be paid. “We would have preferred simply discussing the matter, but it seems this is out of the question,” she said. Residents campaigning against the development also have support from some members of the ALG, CSP and GLP parties on the greater city council.
 
Joining Estermann in her latest plans to raise funds are 19 Gartenstadt tenants and three others, though naturally she would like more to get involved, whether residents or others sympathetic to the cause.
 
Ten of the houses due to be demolished actually belong to the Cantonal Insurance Corporation (GVZ), which is controlled by the authorities in Zug itself. The remaining three belong to the Familia Zug housing cooperative.
 
Estermann’s next step will involve raising objections to the latest development plans, when they are published in summer. These have been revised over the past 14 months, as the city thought the new buildings looked rather block-like, even though they had gables, with the current pleasing small-scale appearance lost.
 
Max Uebelhart, the managing director of the GVZ, said he was not surprised by tenants’ latest efforts, referring to them as “their next logical step”. For his part, he remains confident the new development will go ahead, with any objections raised merely delaying the process. “We cannot have three-and-a-half years’ planning work scuppered like this,” he insisted, as he added that this was not the first time projects he had been involved with had ended up in the courts.
 
What also annoyed him was the stance on the issue taken by left-wing politicians, who, despite their alleged concern for the environment, want to keep this old housing, rather than allow a new, energy-efficient development to go-ahead. “Furthermore,” he added, “with only one bathroom and their small rooms, it is getting increasingly difficult to let these flats. They are just not what people want these days.”