Franz Weber Foundation feels “vindicated” in the Uri marina project
Keystone-SDA
The Franz Weber Foundation has welcomed the government’s stance on the planned harbour project on the Isleten peninsula in canton Uri, central Switzerland. It is calling for a fresh start and is offering to enter into a dialogue with the canton, it said on Monday.
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The Federal Office for Spatial Development has clearly stated that the project with an artificial harbour would “seriously impair” the protected landscape on Lake Uri and is not eligible for approval, the press release stated.
Around a week-and-a-half ago, a preliminary assessment report by the federal government deemed the project with hotels, bungalows, boat moorings and the upgrading of the lakeshore in its “current form” to be unrealisable.
Egyptian investor Samih Sawiris wants to realise a hotel with 50 rooms and 30 hotel flats in the three- to four-star range as well as 70 flats and seven bungalows on the Isleten. His plans became known as the “Marina project”.
+ Uri voters clear path for hotel and marina complex in central Switzerland
The foundation had already warned of the impact on nature and the landscape in an open letter in 2022. According to the Federal Office for Spatial Development, the fact that the landside boat harbour had to be completely dispensed with was in line with its “core demand”.
In the statement, the Franz Weber Foundation calls for a “new direction” for the development of the Isleten. The aim must be to develop solutions “that are economically viable and environmentally and ecologically responsible”, it said.
Adapted from German by AI/ts
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