Facts
Orange Communications SA wanted to erect a mobile phone facility, consisting of a 30 m high antenna mast and a control cabin, in the Gurnigel/Gantrisch moor landscape. The Federal Court upheld the rejection of the building permit by the lower instances. The mobile phone facility would impair the beauty and national significance of the moor landscape and thus violate the statutory protection objectives.Considerations
The Federal Court stated that according to Art. 78 para. 5 of the Federal Constitution, moors and moor landscapes of particular beauty and national significance are protected. Neither facilities may be built nor soil changes made in them, except for installations that serve the protection or the previous agricultural use.
The Federal Court concluded that the planned mobile phone facility does not fall under the permissible infrastructure facilities mentioned in Art. 23d para. 2 of the Nature and Heritage Protection Act (NCHA). A permit under Art. 23d para. 1 NCHA was also ruled out, as the facility is contrary to the protection objectives for the Gurnigel/Gantrisch moor landscape. The mobile phone mast with antennas and parabolic reflectors would represent a technical foreign body in the natural landscape, disturb the silhouette of the…