Federal Council approves Obwalden Master Plan
Bern has given Sarnen the green light in the areas of “Transport”, “Nature and Landscape”, “Tourism and Leisure” and “Other Land Use”.
Canton Obwalden has completely revised its master plan. After having approved the thematic areas “Spatial Development Strategy” and “Settlements” last summer, the Federal Council also approved the areas “Transport”, “Nature and Landscape”, “Tourism and Leisure” and “Other Land Use” at its meeting of 18 June 2021.
With today’s approval by the Federal Council of the second part of the completely revised Master Plan, the Canton of Obwalden now has a thematically comprehensive spatial development instrument that is coordinated with all three institutional levels.
Last year the Federal Government had brought forward the examination and approval of the areas “Settlements” and “Spatial Development Strategy” in order to break the ban on zoning in force in the Canton of Obwalden.
Richtplan-kanton-obwalden-prufungsbericht-zur-genehmigung-durch-den-bundesrat-vom-24062020 (in german)
Richtplan-kanton-obwalden-prufungsbericht-zur-genehmigung-durch-den-bundesrat-vom-18062021(in german)
Richtplan-kanton-obwalden-genehmigung-durch-den-bundesrat-vom-24062020 (in german)
Strategies for the core themes of transport, landscape and tourism
With the updated master plan, the canton of Obwalden has succeeded in clarifying not only important issues of settlement development, but also the areas of future development of Transport, Nature and Landscape, and Tourism and Recreation.
For example, the canton plans to draw up a comprehensive transport strategy, the results of which will then be integrated into the master plan.
In the chapter “Nature and Landscape”, Obwalden takes a first step towards a prominent landscape concept, as the canton defines how it intends to manage, for example, the landscape and its intrinsic qualities.
An important strategic basis for the further development of the canton of Obwalden is contained in the chapter “Tourism and Leisure”, since the latter is a significant economic factor.
Three states divided in half, but with the same dignity as the others
Point-in-time amendments, reservations, and federal mandates
As part of the approval process, the Federal Council made ad hoc amendments to the master plan and expressed some reservations about the approval.
These reservations mainly concern the protection of the best agricultural soils, the so-called crop rotation areas, as well as the spatial strategy indications for tourism and leisure.
The Federal Council asserts that the implementation of projects in the field of tourism and leisure must always be coordinated with federal law and the various territorial interests.
Finally, the Federal Council has also issued several mandates asking the Canton to indicate in the master plan districts or sections of waterways that are suitable for the exploitation of wind or hydroelectric energy.
The aim is for the Canton to create the necessary planning conditions to be able to promote renewable energies.
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