Training center: Politics clears the way for St. Pauli’s expansion plans

Hamburg. For Jochen Winand it wasn’t an easy performance. The Vice President of FC St. Pauli should be on Tuesday evening in the public session of the Urban planning committee in the district of Eimsbüttel to the desired Expansion of the training center explain the arguments of the association at the Kollau. He also pointed out the social commitment of the club. And immediately received a counterattack: “You say that to the people whose existence you are robbing,” echoed the audience.

At the end of the more than two-hour questioning and exchange of arguments, FC St. Pauli had achieved an important success that makes the future of the club in Niendorf seem possible. The representatives of all parties unanimously agreed to “early public participation” in the draft development plan for Niendorf 97. The project is thus politically on the way, but with clear demands on the administration, especially the district office management.

FC St. Pauli expansion plans: Hamburg Stealers have existential fears

Around 50 guests attended the meeting on the twelfth floor of the Grindelberg district office. Most of them from the Hamburg Stealers baseball club, which has existential fears in view of the planned relocation of its stadium to Vogt-Kölln-Straße. “We are not preventers, but we also have to look after ourselves,” said Stealers President Sven Huhnholz, “we actually don’t know anything at all a year after the plans were presented.”

He also spoke from the heart of the other clubs HFC Falke, Eimsbütteler TV, West Eimsbüttel and TSV Stellingen, who also complain about a lack of communication on the part of the administration. Hamburg’s BUND Chairwoman Christiane Blömeke urgently warned against the planned construction of football pitches in the flooded area.

Anger at lack of transparency

FC St. Pauli, as a beneficiary of the project, also felt the anger at the lack of transparency of the officials in the planning process to date. The committee members therefore asked the district office management to present all plans, studies and reports transparently at any time from now on. Otherwise the planning would be stopped. This could become a problem for the further process. Nevertheless, Winand was relieved: “If the application hadn’t gone through today, we would have had to look for alternative locations immediately. That is no longer the case.”