The state’s passivity meets with incomprehension

Report in the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung from 5 March 2024

With the publication of the development plan by the city of Datteln last November, planning law now exists for the newPark site. But the state of NRW itself remains passive. This was met with incomprehension by many, reported the WAZ on 5 March 2024.

“It is a state project after all,” says newPark Managing Director Andreas Täuber to the newspaper. He is therefore all the more surprised that the state of NRW is not taking a proactive approach to this asset. Täuber is not alone in this assessment, the newspaper continues. Datteln’s mayor André Dora and Marc Rosendahl, managing director of the DGB region Emscher-Lippe, also agreed with this assessment. André Dora had even contacted Düsseldorf about this, but: “I didn’t get a single signal back,” he told the WAZ. The North Westphalia Chamber of Industry and Commerce has also already called for support from the state on this issue, the WAZ continues. The industrialisation of the newPark is an urgently needed development for the region, Rosendahl emphasises to the WAZ.

The state plays an important role in the marketing of the newPark: “Because international investors looking for sites for large-scale projects don’t come to the city of Datteln, but contact the federal and state economic development agencies,” according to the WAZ. Täuber emphasises that the newPark needs to be advertised proactively in these places. There are currently “many international enquiries for large areas for industrial production”, says Täuber in the WAZ.

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