New construction of a central clinic in Mittelbaden: Recommendation for Rastatt site proposal Münchfeldsee

The valuation report for the site selection of a central clinic was prepared by the independent specialist office Endera from Siegburg in North Rhine-Westphalia, which has extensive experience in the field of hospital consulting. It was commissioned by Klinikum Mittelbaden. The experts examined the five possible locations submitted by the towns of Baden-Baden and Rastatt in the competition process according to seven criteria. The accessibility of the clinic played a decisive role. Other questions dealt with the size and layout of the plots, public transport connections and procurement costs. The experts were supported by a six-member advisory board, half of which was made up of the Rastatt district council and half of the Baden Baden city council and chaired by District Administrator Christian Dusch.

The "Am Münchfeldsee" site scored best in the survey (81.8 percent). In second place is the Merzeau site (77.9 percent), followed by the three locations in Baden-Baden: Balg (76.1 percent), Haueneberstein (75.9 percent), Sandweier (65.1 percent).

Three clubs currently use space at the Münchfeldsee site: RSC/DJK e.V., Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde-Ortsgruppe Rastatt and Angelsportverein Rastatt 1923 e.V. However, only the RSC/DJK and the Schäferhundeverein would need to relocate. However, a change of area for the RSC/DJK and a concentration of soccer pitches in Münchfeld is already being considered as part of the sports development plan (PDF) (1.3 MB), irrespective of the new clinic building.

As the leaseholder of Münchfeldsee, the fishing club can continue to use the lake. This is because the Münchfeldsee is not needed for the new clinic building and should therefore not be sold.

Since the beginning of the search for a location for the clinic, the city administration has been in contact with all affected associations and will continue to maintain this dialog intensively - with the aim of finding good solutions for the two affected associations.

No, the proposed location is essentially in the area of the current sports fields, which have no ecological or bioclimatic relevance. The nearest nature conservation area is a considerable distance from the site.

Four sports fields/football pitches are planned for development on a club site - without access and without a recreational function for the general population. The wording in the regional plan dates back to 2003. The regional plan has been under revision for some time (the wording proposed in the city's statement: "Area for settlement expansions coordinated in regional planning").

Important: The recreation area in the regional plan refers to a total area of 5.51 square kilometers between Iffezheim, Sandweier, Niederbühl and Münchfeld. It essentially comprises the nature reserve "Sand heaths and dunes near Sandweier and Iffezheim" with the Niederwald and Oberwald forests, including the areas bordering the settlements, the highway and the gravel extraction areas. The regional plan describes that sports areas are also located in recreational areas - as here at Münchfeldsee. In contrast to the extensive forest areas of this recreation area, however, these are only open to members.

The planned clinic area on the north-western edge of the area covers a gross area of only 7.9 hectares, which of course will not be completely built over. That is 0.079 square kilometers or around 1.4 percent of this so-called recreation area.

No, firstly there is no official climate report, only a climate analysis from 2017 (PDF) (8.2 MB), which is used as a working paper for various projects in the administration. In the analysis, the entire area of the city of Rastatt was divided into clusters and evaluated in terms of temperature distribution, fresh air flows and other microclimatic effects under different conditions than today. The analysis is definitely not against building on the site. On the contrary, it shows that due to the lowered position of the Münchfeldsee site, there would be hardly any climatic impact from development. This is not the case at the Merzeau site. Martin Schursch, the city's climate protection officer, emphasizes: "It cannot be assumed that the fresh air conditions at the Münchfeldsee site will deteriorate as a result of development in the adjacent area. The situation is different in the Merzeau area. It has a medium bioclimatic significance, but the building height above the site is greater, which creates a larger barrier for air exchange."

The lake and the surrounding area are already fenced in and leased to the Rastatt 1923 e.V. fishing club for its sole use and only accessible to it and its members. This will continue to be the case.

The crossover will provide the necessary traffic relief. The traffic model anticipates a significant reduction in congestion on Badener Straße. In order to make driving on Badener Straße unattractive and to relieve the adjacent streets, further traffic management measures are planned, such as passage restrictions or stopping bans. The crossover will be built independently of the construction of the hospital and will not be affected by the timing of the hospital. Access to the hospital is to be provided directly via the crossover.

As the cross-city link is a measure of the Karlsruhe Regional Council (RP), the RP must first carry out a planning approval procedure. This allows all affected authorities and citizens to find out more about the link road and comment on the project. Planning and the invitation to tender will then follow. The city administration expects construction to begin in 2027. The construction period for the cross-city link is around two years.

All residential buildings in Münchfeld are located in legally binding development plans that stipulate a so-called pure residential area or a general residential area. The building use ordinance stipulates that noise limits must be complied with in these areas. This applies to traffic as well as to sports facilities or the operational noise caused by a hospital. Any new use must comply with these limits.

Due to the adjacent forest and the water area, cold air forms directly at the edge of the settlement. Any change in this situation in Münchfeld, but also in any other part of the city where additional new buildings are constructed, is accompanied by a change in the cold air flows.

The city of Rastatt is keen to minimize and compensate for the effects of a new hospital building on the microclimate. As the Münchfeldsiedlung and Münchfeld are residential areas with many green spaces, there are particularly good conditions for this. As part of the climate adaptation concept that the city of Rastatt is currently drawing up, appropriate measures are also being planned for the entire city. This will be taken into account and implemented immediately when the clinic is built.

The aim of the KMB's site selection process is to find the best location for a new building. This was based on technical criteria that were also used for other hospital projects. To this end, the city has submitted both land bids on an equal footing and without prioritization on the basis of the tender criteria. The Rastatt district council and the Baden-Baden municipal council, and not the city of Rastatt, will decide which site will be awarded the contract.

The selection process was managed by Klinikum Mittelbaden, not the town of Rastatt. Communication about the selection process was very transparent and public - in Rastatt, this took the form of public resolutions in the municipal council, various information events held by the clinic and the clinic's website, which presents the process and the current status. As soon as the process has been completed, Rastatt will invite the public to an information event and involve them in the next steps as far as possible.

The Astoc planning office commissioned by the city, which also has experience in hospital planning, considered both sites (Am Münchfeldsee and Südlicher Stadteingang) and their layouts to be well suited. However, the experts from KMB came to the conclusion that the tapered barracks site would restrict the planners. They saw a further restriction in the large sewer that runs through the site and cannot be built over. In contrast, the plot at Münchfeldsee is clearly more suitable. It is not up to the town of Rastatt to change the assessment of the experts working on behalf of Klinikum Mittelbaden.

No. Rather, there is a risk that the selection process will be reopened and that considerable time will be lost. It is also unclear whether a Rastatt site will ultimately be chosen at all. If the city were to no longer make available the site that was deemed the most suitable in the previous competition process - following the recommendation of the experts and the decisions of the supervisory board and the district council - it would also lose credibility. After all, by submitting the applications, the city has accepted the selection process.