The Music Campus needs binding commitments rather than lip service
Yesterday (29 August), the Culture Committee (Kulturausschuss) discussed the launch of the urban planning and landscape design competition for the Music Campus. In the run-up, there had repeatedly been conflicting statements about the status of the project and about the funding of the joint cultural building by the non-municipal partners. The council groups of the Greens, SPD and FDP, together with the Volt council group, are therefore tabling an amendment demanding clear funding commitments from the state in order to get this competition under way.
They issued the following joint statement:
“Desirable as the Music Campus as a whole remains, we have now reached a point where verbal lip service must turn into binding commitments. Despite repeated requests, the rector of the university was unable to confirm whether the university can honour the commitments it has made during the process to fund a new building for the music academy (Musikhochschule) and to contribute to the cultural building. A growing number of stakeholders close to the university are also casting doubt on the pledged funding.
Should the commitments not be made in writing and in binding form in the near future, we will consequently have to concentrate on meeting the city’s own needs. This is the only way that we, who bear responsibility in the council, can ensure that the Westfälische Schule für Musik is able to make its long-overdue move into suitable premises. Another goal in this context remains the creation of suitable rehearsal rooms for the Symphony Orchestra.
The Music Campus project has always been fraught with problems. Nevertheless, as council groups we have always supported the project constructively – always with a view to not jeopardising the budget. Now, however, we have to accept that we can no longer extend trust in advance while no tangible progress is being made on the conditions set by the council.”
