With the immediate action program "Perspektive Innenstadt!", the state of Lower Saxony and the European Union are supporting Lower Saxony's cities and municipalities with a total of 117 million euros to help them cope with the consequences of the pandemic in their inner cities.
"In my role as Vice President of the Lower Saxony Association of Cities and Towns, I have been committed to the emergency program at state level from the very beginning. It was therefore only natural for us to propose to the Salzgitter City Council that we apply for this funding in order to prepare the city centers of Salzgitter-Lebenstedt and Salzgitter-Bad for the future with tailor-made measures," said Lord Mayor Frank Klingebiel.
The city of Salzgitter will apply for funding for numerous projects, meaning that the total amount will exceed the promised budget of €1.5 million, as the city of Salzgitter has also applied for additional funding if budgets from non-participating municipalities are available in the second quarter of 2022. The total volume applied for is therefore 2.76 million euros with a funding rate of 90 percent. The individual projects could be implemented from fall 2021 and must be completed by March 31, 2023 at the latest.
In a first step, ideas were collected with the business working group, the city administration's building department and the city center marketing department of Wirtschafts- und Innovationsförderung Salzgitter GmbH (WIS) and a list of possible projects was compiled, which will be evaluated, adapted and implemented in the coming months with the participation of the council factions, local stakeholders and external experts. "We plan to implement our proposed projects quickly with the help of the funding. The aim is to strengthen both city centers in such a way that vacancies are eliminated, people are attracted to the city centers, atmosphere is created and the design and quality of stay are significantly improved," Frank Klingebiel continued. All projects are intended to mitigate the direct consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Existing companies can thus be strengthened. New added value is to be created, jobs are to be preserved or even newly created.
"All project ideas are initial ideas that will be subject to changes or additions, especially once a concrete funding guideline is available. We have developed a good and coherent overall concept for our application, which will now be implemented in sub-projects with all stakeholders and in the city council together in Salzgitter's inner cities after the budget has been reserved and will provide important impetus there," emphasizes Klingebiel.
In addition to the immediate action program "Perspektive Innenstadt!", a second version of last year's extremely successful voucher campaign will be proposed to the Salzgitter City Council at its meeting on 21 July. As a municipal economic stimulus program, the "Your voucher for Salzgitter 2.0" campaign should have a quick and immediate effect. Once again, the City of Salzgitter's campaign will offer a 5-euro voucher for all Salzgitter residents, which can be redeemed at registered businesses in the retail, catering and service sectors in Salzgitter. "In these difficult times, the voucher campaign 2.0 is once again intended to show both the people of Salzgitter and the companies directly affected by the closures a perspective and a sign of solidarity," concludes Frank Klingebiel.