Already active Amazon warehouse: development plan declared invalid
The North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court in Münster has declared the development plan for the Lippe industrial park in Horn-Bad Meinberg to be ineffective. This deprives the commercial area of its legal basis.
Court overturns development plan in North Rhine-Westphalia
Amazon has been operating a large logistics center there with more than 2,000 jobs since August 2024. The German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation filed a legal action against the project in 2023. The decisive factor in the decision were formal errors in the noise emission quotas. The city had divided the area into ten zones with different noise limits. 65 to 70 decibels were permitted during the day and 47 to 65 decibels at night. According to the judges, this contradicts the intended purpose of an industrial area. This effectively excludes companies with a certain level of disruption.
Again WDR reported, the environmental association originally criticized other points of the construction project. These included land consumption, soil sealing and interventions in nature. The expected traffic burden from delivery traffic and commuters was also part of the lawsuit. Because the incorrect noise quota was already sufficient, the court no longer examined the remaining points.
Consequences for the logistics center
The industrial park covers around 72 hectares. Amazon built a large building complex with a single-story office building on part of the site. The logistics center is considered an economic anchor for the East Westphalia-Lippe region. Despite the ineffective development plan, the company is currently facing neither a construction halt nor a dismantling. The city assumes extensive protection of existing facilities. An Amazon spokesman said the company expects the site to continue operating as normal. The settlement brought new tax revenue to the municipality, but was met with resistance from local residents. Local citizens’ initiatives have been protesting for years against the expected traffic and light pollution from the logistics center, which operates around the clock. Infographic: Amazon has Chinese competition breathing down its neck
Planning starts completely again
The municipality now has to completely redevelop the development plan. The administration announced that it would examine the verdict thoroughly. Errors in noise specifications are more common in building law because of the complex specifications. Although the building code was recently changed, the procedure in Horn-Bad Meinberg is no longer subject to these new rules. The Lippe district, as the responsible approval authority, will also evaluate the judgment. The environmental association is calling for more comprehensive compensation for the destruction of nature for the new plan. The Higher Administrative Court did not allow an appeal. However, the city can lodge a non-admission complaint with the Federal Administrative Court.
