Legally valid landscape plan (1988)

The landscape plan was drawn up in accordance with the Act on the Protection of the Natural Environment and the Development of the Landscape (Landscape Act - LG). This law has since been replaced by the NRW State Nature Conservation Act, which came into force on 25.11.2016 and is decisive for the redrafting of the landscape plan.

According to § 16 (1) LG, the landscape plan only applies to areas outside the scope of the development plans. The landscape plan can extend to the area covered by a development plan if this plan specifies agricultural or forestry use or green areas and these are connected to the built-up outdoor area.

Insofar as representations or stipulations of the landscape plan extend over traffic areas, this has no consequences for the traffic areas. Likewise, mandatory hazard prevention measures remain unaffected by the representations and stipulations of the landscape plan.

The basis for the development of the landscape plan is:

• Section 27 LG in conjunction with Section 8 of the Implementing Ordinance
• Basic maps I and II with the corresponding maps and texts.
  

The base map Ib contains the actual use on the basis of the agricultural report of the Rhineland Chamber of Agriculture from November 1979 and the forestry report of the Monschau State Forestry Office from 1978 (base map 1a is the 1980 land use plan of the city of Aachen).

The text for the base map I contains a description of the planning specifications adopted from the state planning, the main contents of the land use plan for the outdoor area, insofar as they are of importance for landscape planning, and explanations of the map contents.

Based on the specialist ecological report, the base map II contains the natural spatial structure, the analysis of the natural balance, the ecologically based landscape units relevant to planning, the valuable natural habitats, the formative parts of the landscape, the structuring and revitalizing elements and the landscape damage.

part of the Articles of Association:

• Development map
• Determination map
• Textual representations and textual stipulations with explanatory report

Due to the complexity and density of the plan area, the contents of the development map are shown at a scale of 1 : 15,000 and the designation map at a scale of 1 : 5,000. The representations of the 1980 land use plan, the land planning procedures and the existing and initiated procedures of other specialist planning authorities have been taken into account.

The textual representations and textual stipulations with explanatory report of the landscape plan for the entire city are summarized in a text volume. This is supplemented by the legally binding amendment procedures no. 15 - nature conservation area N 11 Indetal - and no. 18 - nature conservation area N 12 Brander Wald.

The above-mentioned technical contributions contain the presentation of the forestry and agricultural structures and their development trends in the entire plan area. They form an essential basis for the depictions in the base map Ib. Regulations for forestry use can only be made in accordance with the specialist forestry report. The implementation of the stipulations for forestry use is governed by §§ 35 and 36 LG.

The specialist ecological contribution required for the analysis of the ecosystem and the recording of natural habitats with their interrelationships is contained in the base map II.

The plan statements on the development map and the designation map are based on the NW Landscape Act and the designations are derived from it, both in terms of subject matter and in terms of reason and effect. The individual stipulations are accompanied by prohibitions, requirements, provisions on non-affected activities and an explanatory report.

In addition to the prohibitions and requirements listed in the landscape plan, the special regulations and decrees must also be observed, e.g.

• the Liquid Manure Ordinance,
• the water protection area ordinances and floodplains and
• the ban on burning off the ground cover on meadows, field margins, raised fields and unused ground areas as well as on hedges and slopes or treating areas not used for agriculture, forestry or fishing in such a way that the flora or fauna is significantly impaired
• Prohibition to cut, prune or remove trees, hedges, living fences, bushes and other woody plants outside the forest, short rotation plantations or horticultural areas in the period from March 1 to September 30; gentle shaping and maintenance pruning to remove the growth of plants or to maintain the health of trees is permitted,
• the ban on cutting back reedbeds in the period from March 1 to September 30; outside these periods, reedbeds may only be cut back in sections,
• the ban on taking, damaging or destroying the breeding or resting places of wild animals of specially protected species,

Exemptions are measures ordered or approved by the authorities. The requirements for exemptions are regulated in Section 67 BNatSchG and for administrative offenses (fines) in Section 69 BNatSchG and Section 77 LNatSchG.

The development, maintenance and development measures provided for in the landscape plan are implemented by mutual agreement within the framework of public law contracts between the City of Aachen and the respective owners or landowners (so-called contractual nature conservation).

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