In the guesthouse of Dillinger, Saarlouis Mayor Marc Speicher, Dillingen Mayor Franz-Josef Berg, Stefan Rauber, Chairman of the Board of Dillinger, and Dr. Michael Bott from Dillinger signed an urban development agreement. In the evening, city council resolutions will follow to pave the way for green steel.
Background:
The steel industry is currently undergoing a fundamental reorientation towards green steel. As part of the transition to climate-neutral production methods, the joint-stock company of Dillinger Hüttenwerke is planning extensive construction measures. Because the city boundary between the cities of Dillingen and Saarlouis runs right through the planned construction site and the steelworks premises are located in both Dillingen's and Saarlouis's districts, both cities are affected in their planning authority.
Since there was no binding land-use plan in the affected area of the city of Dillingen, the Dillingen city council already passed the resolution to prepare a development plan in February 2023. In contrast, there was already a valid development plan for the Saarlouis area, which in 1971, according to the planning standards at that time, defined a type of facility under which the now intended project could not be classified. Therefore, a binding land-use plan was necessary for the Saarlouis area in order to enable the project and pave the way for green steel.
The complex planning and approval procedures took nearly two years. During this time, significant working hours were incurred in the city administrations, city councilors and their committees were frequently involved with the development plan process and accompanying measures, and several public information events were held.
With the signing of the urban development agreement and the council resolutions this evening, the municipal planning procedures have now been concluded: The urban development agreement between the European City of Saarlouis, the steel town of Dillingen, and the Dillinger Hütte represents a significant part of the so-called balancing in the development plan process and regulates additional aspects that have been set – including topics such as noise protection, fire protection, infrastructure, and flood protection. With the subsequent approvals of the agreement by the city councils and the approvals of the development plans "Special Area CO2-low Steel Production" with partial amendments to the land use plan, the foundations for granting the necessary permits have been established – the cities of Dillingen and Saarlouis have thus made a decisive contribution to the transformation of the Saarland steel industry.
