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Mayors and district administrators in dialogue: Focus on the future of southern Hesse!
The district president and district administrators are discussing the approval process, regional plan and wind power projects in Darmstadt.
Mayors and district administrators in dialogue: Focus on the future of southern Hesse!
Today, June 11, 2025, an interesting meeting took place in the Darmstadt administrative district. District President Prof. Dr. Jan Hilligardt and his deputy Dr. Stefan Fuhrmann met with district administrators and mayors to discuss current approval procedures and upcoming decisions by the authorities. This personal exchange has proven valuable in promoting understanding between local and state levels RheinMainVerlag reports.
A central topic of the meeting was the new regional plan for southern Hesse, which will soon be made public. The focus in particular is on the Spessart-Odenwald line, a major project that stretches across five districts and 22 municipalities. The planning approval authority in the Darmstadt regional council is responsible for three of the four sections. Furthermore, the topic of state hydraulic engineering was addressed, with the RP taking care of dike renovation and municipal orders.
Wind power on the rise
Another important point was the expansion of wind power in the administrative district. Currently, 21 procedures have been initiated for 95 wind turbines, and further projects are on the horizon. In southern Hesse, a total of 11,175 hectares in 122 priority areas are earmarked for wind energy use, which is around 1.5 percent of the area in this region. The Substantive Renewable Energy Plan (TPEE) 2019, which forms the basis for these plans, came into force in 2020 and means that the construction of spatially significant wind turbines outside the priority areas remains excluded until the beginning of 2024 rp-darmstadt.
The importance of priority areas is also reflected in the fact that the use of wind energy was considered more than necessary in 2021 in order to meet the requirements of the state development plan. The first area contribution value for Hesse will be determined at the beginning of 2024. Although changes from new federal laws such as the WindBGEG and WindBG are taken into account in the implementation of the TPEE 2019, the approval of wind turbines outside the priority areas often remains a user inconvenience.
Current challenges
The discussion also addressed other topics that are important to communities. These include the challenges in civil defense and the fight against swine fever. Cooperation with municipalities on naturalization and voluntary repatriation was also discussed. A positive innovation: Helga Uhl was introduced as the new head of municipal and savings bank supervision at RP Darmstadt.
The structure of the administrative district is quite exciting, because it includes not only ten districts, but also four independent cities - Frankfurt, Offenbach, Wiesbaden and Darmstadt, as well as three cities with special status: Hanau, Rüsselsheim and Bad Homburg. It is interesting that Hanau is expected to become a district at the turn of the year 2025/26, which could further change the political landscape in the district.
All in all, it can be said: A lot is happening in the Darmstadt administrative region, and those responsible are showing a good knack for actively tackling the challenges of the future. Whether it's the expansion of wind power, the renovation of dikes or the civil challenges - the work here is future-oriented and ultimately benefits all citizens.