Budget 2026/2027
Today we will once again adopt the 2026/2027 budget, after an objection was raised to it on account of a procedural error. In doing so, we would like to highlight the administration's proactive approach and commend its honest way of dealing with mistakes. Maren Berkenheide, chair of the group, emphasises: “Mistakes happen. In a process like this, that is of course particularly annoying, but unnecessary agitation helps no one. We will vote in favour of the budget and do our part to correct the error; after that, responsibility lies once again with the administration or the district council, and we are confident that the budget will then be officially confirmed without delay.”
The administration's joint statement can be found here:
https://volt-muenster.de/blog/koalition-formfehler-beheben-haushalt-rasch-beschlie%C3%9Fen/
Roundabout on Von-Esmarch-Straße
Münster City Council has decided on the redesign of the roundabout on Von-Esmarch-Straße in Gievenbeck and voted in favour of traffic lights. The Volt group abstained in the vote.
Maren Berkenheide, spokesperson for the Volt council group:
“For us, there is no question that something must be done about road safety at the roundabout. In our view, a roundabout optimised along Dutch lines would have been the more convincing solution from a technical standpoint: quicker to implement, cheaper and compatible with the Mobility Master Plan (Masterplan Mobilität). There is no majority on the council for this approach, and voting against would only prolong years of standstill. That is why we are abstaining.”
Sven Konopka, councillor for the Volt group:
“As early as 2020, the accident commission (Unfallkommission) decided to modernise the roundabout; politicians were only involved at the end of 2024, when a finished traffic-light design was presented to them as a report. We had to, and still have to, actively request information on the chronology, in particular on the accident commission's decisions. We are pushing for the minutes of the accident commission to be made publicly and transparently available in future.”
Sebastian Kappen, transport policy spokesperson:
“More than 3,600 people have signed a petition, and the Youth Council and associations such as ADFC Münsterland have made their position clear. This response shows how much the issue matters to our city. We now expect the administration to make other accident black spots, such as the Ludgerikreisel and Hafenstraße, safer promptly and effectively.”
Tree transplanting at Schulzentrum Wolbeck
Volt expressly supports the planned tree transplanting.
Maren Berkenheide, spokesperson for environment and climate policy:
“The debate often focuses mainly on the costs. What is forgotten is the enormous ecological value that large established trees already have today.”
Old trees cool the city with their large canopies, provide shade and store considerable amounts of CO₂. Young replacement trees could only achieve this effect after decades. Hardly any measure pays off as directly for climate action and heat protection as preserving large trees.
Municipal heat planning
Volt also takes a positive view of the municipal heat planning.
Maren Berkenheide, spokesperson for environment and climate policy:
“Around 30 per cent of CO₂ emissions come from the buildings sector – above all from heating and hot water. Anyone who is serious about climate action must therefore organise the heating transition.”
For the first time, municipal heat planning creates a systematic basis for determining which solutions make sense in which districts, from heat networks and heat pumps to geothermal energy and waste heat.
Volt is particularly pleased that Münster is already pushing ahead with concrete projects, for example in expanding district heating or using geothermal energy.
Maren Berkenheide, spokesperson for environment and climate policy:
“What matters most now is transparency. Many people are asking themselves very specifically: what does this mean for my neighbourhood and my heating? That is why we expressly support communicating the results in a clear and accessible way.”
