Uri decides on the future of the Isleten peninsula
Published: Wednesday, Oct 23rd 2024, 09:40
Retour au fil d'actualité
On November 24, the population of the canton of Uri will vote on the "Isleten for all" initiative submitted by the Green Party. One of the aims of the proposal is to prevent new hotel and apartment buildings and boat harbors from being built on the peninsula.
Egyptian investor Samih Sawiris wants to build a hotel with 50 rooms and 30 hotel apartments in the three- to four-star range as well as 70 apartments and seven bungalows on the Isleten peninsula, on the site of a former explosives factory.
This is not what the initiative committee wants. It argues that the Isleten is considered one of the most beautiful and valuable recreational areas in Switzerland. This should be preserved and protected from total overdevelopment by a tourist resort.
The initiators are also in favor of the Isleten being used for tourism. However, this should be "close to nature, gentle and sustainable", as can be seen from the voting message. They are considering a vacation village, a camping site or a youth hostel, for example.
In addition, Sawiris' project is not free for Uri. According to the initiative committee, the relocation of the road, the costs for the land acquisition and the construction of the new drinking water and wastewater disposal system will cost the public purse "well over CHF 15 million".
Interference in municipal autonomy
The government rejects the Greens' proposal. The initiative neglects the "economic, tourism and regional policy interests", according to the voting message.
The initiative demands that the future use of the area around Isleten should not be determined by the local municipalities, but by the canton in the form of a law. The government argues that this would interfere with the autonomy of the municipalities.
According to the government, the municipality of Seedorf, to which Isleten belongs, will be unable to develop the area independently. "Such a curtailment of a municipality's planning sovereignty by the canton is unprecedented in Uri," reads the message.
In addition, the canton must ensure that the area, which is part of the Lake Lucerne tourism development area, can develop economically. According to the cantonal government, the initiative would restrict regional economic and tourism development.
In addition to the government, the cantonal parliament also failed to listen to the concerns of the initiators. In the summer session, a large majority voted against the Isleten initiative of the Greens.
If the people of Uri approve the Isleten initiative at the ballot box, investor Sawiris said in an interview with the NZZ that one option would be to redevelop the site privately and use it himself.
Dispute over voting message
The "Isleten für alle" initiative committee announced on October 22 that it had lodged a complaint against the voting message with the cantonal government of Uri. It accused the government of spreading false information and reporting "unobjectively" and "subjectively" against the initiative.
The committee also criticized the government council for interfering with the initiative committee's statement in the dispatch by adding footnotes. According to the committee, statements by initiative committees should be printed in the dispatch without any changes.
At the request of Keystone-SDA, the Uri registry office confirmed that the complaint had been received and was being examined by the responsible directorate.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic