
Jurgen Kern stands in his field with a broad grin. "I am very happy about the outcome of the council decision", says the farmer after the decisive ballot, which took place in parallel with the state elections in Erlangen on Sunday. In the program, the citizens were asked by the city council whether they wanted "preparatory studies for a new district in the west of the city" would support.
Approximately 55 per cent of those eligible to vote voted with "no" so that the investigations decided in May by the city council to the planned mega-building area "West 3" cannot be continued. Mayor Florian Janik (SPD) has already called the vote a "defeat" and was "disappointed" shown about the outcome of the vote. "Democracy also brings defeats and this – albeit close – vote is a defeat", said Janik, who wants "affordable housing" on the 200-hectare site between Buchenbach and Herzogenaurach wanted to create.
Farmers did not believe Janik
Farmers, on the other hand, are in a jubilant mood. Like Antonius Korner, many people are still angry with the mayor. The head of the city had wanted to take the farmers by surprise and "secretly, quietly and silently" want to whip the urban development measure through the city council. In addition, Janik had "fooled" the citizens, that affordable housing would be built in the city’s western part. Many farmers can only laugh about it.