Emergency submission refused Advisory committee wants to prevent concrete area for Kunst!Rasen stage
BONN · The Bonn Nature Conservation Committee wants to prevent a concrete area in the Rheinaue for the stage for Kunst!Rasen concerts. It was intended to make the set up easier. Tom Jones is this year’s opening act.
The city had agreed with Kunst!Rasen organiser Ernst-Ludwig Hartz to the construction work in the park area below the Post Tower. The foundation slab is supposed to make it easier to set up the stage, on which greats such as Carlos Santana and Bob Dylan have played in previous years. To date it has been erected on a slope and must therefore be supported accordingly, writes the city administration in its submission.
It also has to be well secured against lifting in strong winds with up to 30 water containers placed under the stage floor as a counterweight. The city, which leases the area to Hartz for the summer festival, is therefore planning to finance a 14 by 29 metre large foundation slab on which the stage can be anchored.
Committee member criticises “salami tactics”
However, the authorities encountered strong resistance from the Nature Conservation Advisory Committee. The city has already allowed the Kunst!Rasen Festival annual building permits, criticised committee member Wolfgang Kehren in the meeting. “That is a type of salami tactic; I don’t like it.” It is also unclear whether the Kunst!Rasen concerts will continue in the long term.
The committee unanimously rejected the proposal, with one abstention. “The city council will probably not adhere to it,” speculated chairman Hartmut Stellmacher. And he pointed out: “We don’t know anything else from experience. At least we ourselves have a clear conscience.” The city administration is now examining whether to prepare a submission for the council.
This was not previously anticipated. “If the council decides in line with the Nature Conservation Advisory Committee, then the stage area will be rejected,” said deputy city spokesman Marc Hoffmann. However, if the majority vote against the decision of the committee, the process has to be put before the higher nature conservation authority for a decision. This is the regional government in Cologne.
Tom Jones is opening act
Event organiser Hartz reacted calmly to the conservationists’ veto. “The foundation would of course make our work easier,” said the Bonner, who specifically praised the city administration for its cooperative stance. The Kunst!Rasen operators would be happy if they were allowed to hold concerts until 11pm on certain Fridays and Saturdays. The strict noise controls only currently allow them to operate until 10pm.
The opening act at this year’s Kunst!Rasen is the energetic stage legend Tom Jones on 28 June. Hartz is more than happy with the advance ticket sales for the festival: around 30,000 tickets have already been sold, 9000 of which alone are for the Fantastic Four on 20 July.
(Original text: Andreas Baumann. Translation: kc)
