A year and a half ago it was already clear: there will be no wind turbines in Muttenz BL – the decision of the city council was clear with 118 against 96 votes. Really. But on Tuesday night, the people of Muttenz voted yes to the wind turbine with a two-thirds majority.
One person is especially happy about the review: high school student Umut Gökbas (19). It is largely thanks to him that the wind turbine was retuned.
Students have started a petition
When the Muttenz community meeting in June 2021 spoke out against the construction of a wind turbine, Gökbas was present with his school class. The students could hardly believe the negative decision – nor did they want to accept it.
Gökbas, president of the Junge GLP Basel and president of the student organization of the Gymnasium Muttenz, started a petition. “After all, I represent about 900 students,” the high school student told Blick. Three months after the community meeting, he and class representatives launched the signature collection. Objective: The community must vote again on the wind turbine.
Parties supported petition
With success, because 188 student signatures were collected. The Greens, SP, Green Liberals and EVP of the municipality also supported the issue. And so the company came back to the community meeting. Gökbas was also able to cast his vote – he was not entitled to vote in the last ballot.
Why were the results different a year and a half later, and significantly so? Gökbas suspects that the theme of renewable energy has received a boost in the true sense of the word against the background of the energy shortage.
referendum announced
However, the battle for the wind turbine is not yet over: opponents of the system announced the referendum on Tuesday at the municipal meeting. Her main argument: there is not enough wind in Muttenz for an efficient system. In addition, it would provide power to too few people.
Gökbas is not deterred by this. About 800 households in Muttenz, or about ten percent, can be supplied with electricity thanks to the wind turbine. “It’s worth it,” he says.