Retzbach Park

The market town of Gaimersheim is characterised by the Retzbach lowlands, which run through the municipality in a west-east direction on the edge of the town centre. The Retzbachpark is part of this green corridor, which until recently was used intensively for agriculture. Particularly in spring, there have been repeated strong flood events.

In 2005, a survey was carried out in the market town of Gaimersheim on the quality of life in the municipal area. The condition of the Retzbach and local recreation in Gaimersheim were rated as deficient. Taking up these deficits as well as due to the necessity of a flood protection concept, the creation of a water development plan for the Retzbach was commissioned by the market town of Gaimersheim in December 2005 within the framework of the EU Water Framework Directive.

Approaches

The aim of the watercourse development plan is to show the possibilities of a
- near-natural development of the waters and their floodplains and thus, among other things, to make a contribution to preventive flood protection.

At the same time, the watercourse development plan served as a
- basis for the development of a concept to improve local recreation. The special location in the middle of the village was to be used to create a park.

The second overriding planning basis was the land use plan with integrated landscape plan. Already 1996 with the 3. change of the FNP demanded the government of Upper Bavaria the Erstaufstellung of a landscape plan. There, the following was stipulated as requirements:
- the keeping open of the inner-local area of the Retzbachniederung
- the development of an own concept with emphasis landscape / recovery
- the keeping free of the Retzbach- and the Augrabenniederung of any building development, no surface plantings; Creation of woody structures only in the form of stream-accompanying hems from species of the softwood floodplain

Strategies

Early purchase of waterfront land
- Already with the adoption of the watercourse development plan at the end of 2006, the municipality was able to make about half of the required land acquisition through land swaps or land purchases.

Early involvement of the population and the authorities
- Several public municipal council meetings
- Coordination of the planning with the affected water associations and the water management office
- October 2010 event of the water body neighborhood day in Gaimersheim
- June 2011 public information event on the subject of Retzbach renaturation and Retzbach Park
-. September 2012 public participation on the park
- November 2012 additional involvement of the direct park residents

Implementation of the park in connection with the renaturation of the creek
This allowed an optimal processing in terms of both time and economy. The grant funds provided could be used effectively.


The Retzbach Park was designated as a public park in the new version of the land use plan with integrated landscape plan of 2013.
For the remaining areas, the objectives of the existing landscape plan for the lowlands are maintained.

Along the edge of the village, rather more intensively designed areas were created with offers for stay and play. In the case of the lower-lying areas along the stream, the focus was on near-natural design. A new, branched path system was created, leading from the settlement via the park along the stream into the open countryside.
(Total size of the park: 25,500m² ; renaturalized stream length: 550m)

Accessible areas and paths in different shapes and heights define the park. With natural materials (wood, dolomite blocks and gravel), various seating options were built. All in all, the focus is on playing in and contact with nature.

By creating recreational areas along the water, the perception and experience of the lowland and the stream is significantly improved, and the existing characteristic features of this landscape are brought back into awareness.

By removing soil to form hollows, retention space is created.
At the same time, elevations are used as a design tool to get different perspectives and impressions of the water and the park.

AppreciationGerman Landscape Architecture Award 2015

Jury verdict: Markt Gaimersheim has understood how to work on the various planning levels with a consistent strategy towards the ambitious goal of watercourse renaturation and the development of a differentiated local recreation area along the stream until the actual implementation.

With intensive citizen participation, the new Retzbach Park was created in the middle of the town, which offers the residents a nature experience and local recreation of high design quality, while at the same time giving it a new identity. This task, which many communities will have to face in the future, has been solved in an exemplary manner by the relatively small community of Gaimersheim. Due to clear zoning of intensive use at the edge of the village to the near-natural shore of the water, the park offers well staggered recreation and experience spaces.

With little use of funds, but with aesthetic precision, the design elements of the park are developed in a clear formal language and skillfully placed.

The jury praises the Retzbach Park and its planning process as an example of successful integrative renaturation of a watercourse in accordance with the EU Water Framework Directive, which takes into account the justified usage requirements of the residents in the development of a precisely designed local recreation area.