Baden-Württemberg: Schwelling supports municipalities: lowering standards in a crisis

One thing is clear for the municipalities: In the crisis, citizens have to say goodbye to one or the other standard they have grown fond of.

Baden-Württemberg: Schwelling supports municipalities: lowering standards in a crisis

One thing is clear for the municipalities: In the crisis, citizens have to say goodbye to one or the other standard they have grown fond of. It's just not affordable anymore. There is support from the Green Party.

Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - The Greens state chairwoman Lena Schwelling supports the demand of the municipalities to make cutbacks in times of financial crisis with certain standards, for example in childcare. "The municipalities are absolutely right," said Schwelling of the German Press Agency in Stuttgart. "Kindergarten teachers don't grow on trees." You have to somehow manage to implement the legal right to a daycare place and all-day care at the primary schools. "If we say that it is our priority that every child gets a childcare place, then the size of the group will increase a little. That's not the end of the world."

The Green Party leader also stated: "We've gotten used to a standard over the last few years that's great. But it won't be able to be maintained at this level. Then you have to look honestly in the eye and say: Good , then just a few more children come into the group." Most recently, cities and municipalities had called for the corona-related exceptions in daycare centers to be extended for the number of educators per group. But the Ministry of Education denies this. The reason is the concern that educators could be overburdened by groups that are too large and give up their jobs.

Schwelling also advocated lowering certain standards in construction. "Of course it's wonderful when you build apartments as barrier-free as possible. But not everyone needs a barrier-free apartment. Many things also become more expensive if you make them barrier-free. Some people have to come back to a healthy level. It doesn't have to everything "high end" always has to be perfect," said the Greens politician, who also sits on the Ulm municipal council.

The parking space key is also a nuisance. “We struggle with this in the cities, with every new building project where apartments have to have a parking space. This means that if you have to build underground car parks in inner cities, they are incredibly expensive.” One has to ask oneself whether, given the changes in mobility, it still makes sense to build so many underground parking spaces under the city. "You can also expect people who move in to rent somewhere else, which can be more expensive for them if they want a car, or to use public transport."

City, municipal and district councils have been pushing the state for a long time to set more priorities because of the crisis and to consider whether there could be cuts in certain areas. City Council President Peter Kurz said in mid-July: "The municipalities are facing ever-increasing challenges, including financial ones. We need a fundamental discussion about these tasks - together with the state." The head of the community day, Steffen Jäger, has repeatedly called for many of the standards that have been achieved to be put to the test in times of crisis.