Fighting for more building restrictions

The spectacular Lavaux region on the banks of Lake Geneva is again at the heart of a battle between environmentalists and winegrowers over how much development should be allowed in the UNESCO heritage area. (Julie Hunt, swissinfo.ch)

The area has been preserved in its original state thanks to the acceptance by Swiss voters of two initiatives launched by environmentalist Franz Weber.

Now a third Weber initiative is going to the vote, calling for stricter planning regulations to deal with unrestrained property speculation which he says is slowly eating away at the region.

One of the initiative’s main champions, apart from environmental groups like WWF and Pro Natura, is Suzanne Debluë, secretary of the Save Lavaux Association. She believes property developers are slowly chipping away at the site and winegrowers are either ignoring the reality or are working hand in glove with the local decision-makers.

She says some locals mayors have done a good job in protecting their communes but not enough.

Supporters of a counterproposal – most political parties and Lavaux winegrowers – retort that the region is already well protected by existing cantonal and federal laws, so much so that UNESCO granted it World Heritage status as a ‘cultural landscape’ in 2007.

They claim their proposal, with its cross-party support, would ensure the region’s socio-economic development and protection, rather than radical measures to conserve it ‘like a forest or national park’.