Back then everything was “amicable and legal,” said Weghofer, but today the mayor of Bad Sauerbrunner is planning a “hot theft.”
This puts us right in the middle of the heated atmosphere of the hotter dispute that has been simmering for months between the three neighboring communities in the Mattersburg district.
As the KURIER reported, the spa town of Bad Sauerbrunn wants – not for the first time – Incorporate residential and holiday developmentswhich are geographically on the doorstep of the health resort, but belong to the Hotter von Wiesen and Pöttsching.
The children would attend kindergarten and school in the health resort, and the adults would have their social center here, he says Sauerbrunn’s mayor Gerhard Hutter (Bad Sauerbrunn list).
Pöttsching and Wiesen are strictly against it. The bitterness of the neighborhood dispute also has a monetary background. For the 800 or so residents involved, there is around 450,000 euros in income shares annually. This tax money goes to the municipality of residence.
Boundary changes are according to § 7 of the Burgenland municipal regulations only possible in two ways. The first – a two-thirds majority in the local councils of all participating municipalities – is de facto eliminated.
All that remains is paragraph 2, which states: “A state law is required for changes in the boundaries of municipalities against the will of a participating municipality”.
Hutter hopes for that. The 747 pro-Sauerbrunn votes that were collected in the past few weeks in the sought-after settlements in Wiesener and Pöttschinger municipal areas are “a convincing vote from the population,” says Hutter. “86.7 percent voted for Sauerbrunn.”
For Weghofer they are simply “fake”. There were “many inconsistencies” when collecting signatures, Weghofer announces a joint appearance with his Pöttschinger SPÖ mayor colleague.
Hutter wants to send the results to the two neighboring communities of Wiesen and Pöttsching as well as to the state – a notary would be happy to check the legality.
It remains to be seen whether the country will react. When asked by KURIER on Monday, they didn’t even receive the signatures.
Does Hutter believe there will be a decision in the Hotter dispute this year? “I don’t know whether people dare to do that before the state elections.” But whether before or after the election in January 2025, what is more important is “that something happens”.
