Monster building III

 When the time came to protest within the time limit I had been told that the owner of the buildings would "come at me with a bunch of lawyers", so again I took the wrong advice not to protest. I was kind of relying on the neighbours that they would succeed with their protest and stop the madness. Wrong again.

However, I did keep in touch with the guy responsible for the construction, as well as the neighbour and learned that he and his partner had won the fight of moving the border 1,5 meter further away. I thought it would extend to "my" building too. Once again I was wrong. Only from their building. So they didn't manage to stop it at all, just to move it a tiny bit away.

But never give up. I sent an email stating that I was willing to take them to court. I had actually talked to the lawyer that the neighbours used, but he and his whole firm had sign an agreement to say they couldn't be involved in a court case regarding the same buildings. Darn! It would've been good to have a legal representation who already knew the case.

To pay for another lawyer and start from the beginning wasn't an option I saw was viable, because I had already said what I wanted in my first letter. To my surprise they believed that I actually was willing to go to court, and I was offered a bribe. I took it. I knew I had zero chance of winning a court case, so better to accept and shut up. Half the money I donated to a vet student, so at least I did something good for the animals and the environment.

And now I have to "look forward to" at least two years of construction about 10 meters away from my balcony. Life ain't easy.

Monster building II

 In the beginning of this year I learned that you can protest legally, so when it was announced in the 'Tagblatt', the newspaper produced by the city, I sent my protest, claiming loss of greenery in the city (referring to 'Grün Stadt Zürich's website), loss of space for animals and insects as well as noise, dirt and a garage exit about one meter from the border to "my" house.

Unfortunately I had misunderstood (and taken the wrong advice) so the protest was not valid. It was sent too early. You have to wait until the building permit is issued, then you can protest.

However, my letter had been read by both the owner of the plots and the construction guy, so I got a visit from him and the gardener. They presented their plans for planting new trees and bushes after the building had been erected, and promised that it would be beautiful. Right! The fact that they were planning on taking down loads of healthy trees wasn't mentioned.

After that I heard that the new owners of the house above mine also planned to protest, and I felt that maybe we together have a chance after all...

Monster building I

 In the beginning of last year, 2023, I heard that the rich guy who already owns some buildings on "my" street wanted to tear down two beautiful old buildings next to "my" house and put up a monster with 26 flats.

So instead of renovating and keeping the old buildings up to standard, he chose greed. This from a guy who inherited his wealth.

In March last year the renters were moving out after having been duly notified, and the two buildings have been empty since, except for some squatters.

An acquaintance of mine started a petition online and got 422 people to sign. We wanted the construction to stop and keep the green area, which are more rare by the minute in Zürich, despite what 'Grün Stadt Zürich' says on their website. When I was appointed to take over I got two emails from people who wanted to participate and do something. When I answered I never heard back. I guess it's easy to talk, less easy to do.

So the buildings were empty and the large gardens that were beautifully tended to started to look like a jungle.

However, I was still able to enjoy the greenery next door and I was hoping that the greedy guy would change his mind. Yes I know, I'm naive. And I do get it, people need a place to stay, but Switzerland, small as it is as a country, still has a lot of space. If it's as important as 'Grün Stadt Zürich' say to keep green areas in the city, why then not act accordingly?

Restart?

Today I thought about restarting the blog. It's been dormant for quite some time, but why not start up again? Things have happened, not only good ones but there is stuff to share.

I'm thinking the pandemic, the horrible building site next door, an unusual disease and some positive news as well. Hope you're up for it. Let's go!