Budget speech: The Greens

Dear Mayor Kerkhoff
Dear employees of the city administration
Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, on behalf of my group, I would like to thank all Bocholters, the employees of the administration and my colleagues in the committees and the city council for their constructive cooperation.

Our thanks go in particular to the treasurer and her team. The budget consultations were very well prepared. They were very clear and transparent. I would also like to express my special thanks to Mrs Jessica Wissing and her team for the excellent preparation of the digital application tool.

Unfortunately, I have to mention this again in my speech: 2023 was also a year of major challenges. The coronavirus crisis has lost its greatest horrors. Even though the virus is currently causing many infections again. However, the course of the illnesses is generally no longer life-threatening. However, the effects of the coronavirus crisis are still with us today.

The Russian war of aggression on Ukraine, which violates international law, continues to rage. People are having to endure a second winter of war with much suffering and hardship. It is therefore all the more gratifying that Bocholt has now entered into a solidarity partnership with the city of Verkhniodniprovsk. After all, it is a strong sign of solidarity with the Ukrainians.

In addition, there is now the disgusting attack by Hamas on innocent children, women and men. They were tortured, mutilated and murdered or taken hostage. Other crises such as climate change or the energy crisis that is still smouldering in the background will be with us for many years to come. Challenges such as the heating transition or the transport transition want and need to be mastered, including here in Bocholt.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to pick up on the keyword transport transition: Repititio es mater studiorum - repetition is the mother of study. Or: Constant dripping wears away the stone. Dear Mayor Kerkhoff, I would like to apply this quote, which you used in your budget speech, to the subject of the traffic turnaround and in particular to the construction of the North Ring. Alliance 90/The Greens never tire of pointing out how damaging the construction of this major road is to the climate.

Repititio es mater studiorum - Perhaps there will be a gain in knowledge after all.

Ladies and gentlemen, there are many ways to combat the climate crisis, especially in the municipalities. It is also urgently necessary. According to a very large proportion of scientists, we are heading for global warming of 2-2.5 degrees. This means that large parts of the earth will be uninhabitable. The World Climate Conference has once again brought this home to us. Anyone lamenting today about the problems of a "refugee crisis" must realise that the children being born today will have to live with much more dramatic consequences if we do not finally succeed in reducing CO2 emissions. If we fail today and in the present, global refugee movements will begin that we cannot and do not want to imagine.

I can already hear it in my head: What can Bocholt contribute as a municipality? Let them do something up there or in China or India. No! Climate protection starts in the municipalities! And what is Bocholt doing?

CO2 balance:
The update of the CO2 balance was presented on 09.09.2021. The e&u energiebüro certified that greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector in Bocholt have increased by 0.60 tonnes per inhabitant per year from 2011 to 7.82 tonnes. A turnaround in transport is urgently needed in Bocholt. However, this cannot be initiated by first building major roads and then perhaps starting to reduce CO2 emissions. More roads produce more traffic! This is now a truism.

Bocholt also missed its target of reducing its CO2 emissions by 20 % between 2011 and 2020.

Heat planning:
The climate protection concept has not yet been updated: Also here in the current year, radio silence. Germany ticket for pupils: Rejected Bocholt will not achieve its legally prescribed climate targets!

Ladies and gentlemen, in addition to the important issue of climate protection, there are other equally important issues that Bocholt must tackle: The new construction and refurbishment of schools. Daycare centres are urgently needed. And many other measures that serve public services must be implemented. This requires a lot of money.

The treasurer has put it in a nutshell: we are spending more in the 2024 budget than we are taking in. This means that we are heading for an enormous structural deficit. We have to make savings. But where? On art and culture? On services of general interest? We Greens propose leaving the stele on Ravardistrasse, which would save 134,000 euros.

Leisure activities - sport? Ladies and gentlemen, these times call for courage and a great deal of flexibility. Why do plans that swallow up millions and damage the environment and climate have to be implemented just because they were perhaps planned that way decades ago? Road construction, the building of new transverse structures in the River Aa, these are all measures that need to be rethought. Millions can be saved here.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to address another topic that is becoming increasingly important in today's world: Democracy. Bocholt has had a year of living democracy. A referendum has taken place and we have organised children's conferences in many primary schools. Another positive aspect is the extensive citizen participation in the creation of the new city centre concept - towards a collective system change. That is democracy in action.

On behalf of the Greens, I would like to thank all Bocholters and especially the children who took part in the children's conferences for their participation. Democracy must be lived and worked for anew every day. Otherwise it runs the risk of being abolished. This requires a responsible urban society. The people of Bocholt have proven this.

But if you want responsible citizens, you have to keep them involved, keep them informed and work very transparently. This also applies to us politicians. We have to meet people where they are. There is still room for improvement here. A lot has gone wrong in this respect, especially with the renovation of the town hall and the associated purchase of the Gigaset building.

I would like to call on all political groups, individual representatives and the administration to explain the facts to people as transparently as possible. There are far too many stories circulating that, on closer inspection, belong in the realm of populism.

Ladies and gentlemen, an urban society based on solidarity can achieve a great deal. If we face the challenges of the future together, courageously and with the necessary amount of optimism, we will succeed. We will vote in favour of the 2024 budget.

The BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN parliamentary group wishes you and your families a peaceful holiday season.
holidays. Thank you for your attention.

Monika Ludwig
For the BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN parliamentary group on Bocholt City Council.
The spoken word prevails.