Facts
The Tägernauer Holz landfill site in the municipalities of Grüningen and Gossau was included in the Cantonal Structure Plan of Zurich in 2009. In 2016, the Cantonal Council requested the Government Council to increase the area of the planned landfill from 6 ha to 10 ha and to double the landfill volume from 750,000 m3 to 1,500,000 m3.
The municipality of Grüningen and several associations for waste disposal filed a complaint against the decision of the Cantonal Council of October 28, 2019, by which the Cantonal Structure Plan was adopted. They claimed that their rights of participation in the Cantonal Structure Plan procedure had been violated.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court upheld the complaints. It stated that the municipalities and associations in the Canton of Zurich are autonomous, particularly in the field of construction and planning law as well as in the enforcement of cantonal waste law.
According to the Cantonal Constitution, the municipalities have a right to be heard and to participate in the Cantonal Structure Plan procedure. The Cantonal Council violated this right of participation by not addressing the objections of the municipality of Grüningen to the planned landfill site and by not providing a justification for why an expansion of the landfill was necessary.
Furthermore, the Cantonal Council violated the right of participation of the municipalities and…