Roger Federer gives up boathouse plans amid public pushback

Roger Federer gives up the boathouse in Rapperswil-Jona SG Keystone-SDA

Roger Federer has decided not to build the planned boathouse on the banks of his villa in the town of Rapperswil-Jona on Lake Zurich. Two weeks ago, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) lodged an appeal against the permit he had been granted.

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The former world tennis star’s decision not to build the hangar is the result of an agreement reached with the FOEN, the town of Rapperswil-Jona said on Wednesday. Instead, the Basel native will be able to decontaminate and renaturalise the shoreline on his land, demolish the existing boarding ramp, build a new pontoon and install a new access channel. The board did not appeal against these elements of the project.

At the beginning of September, the town of Rapperswil-Jona granted Roger Federer planning permission after overcoming objections to the boathouse project. The canton followed suit. The FOEN reacted to this green light by lodging an appeal with the federal authorities, which caused Roger Federer to give in.

The project to build a boathouse on the shore of the land purchased by the retired tennis star had been the subject of an outcry for some time. It had already led to four opposition procedures. The Rives Publiques association, committed to free access to the lakeshores, had been one of the main opposition parties.

Roger Federer’s purchase of a 17,000 m2 site on Lake Zurich in Rapperswil-Jona was announced in 2019. In the meantime, six buildings are under construction. Objections, zoning issues, a dispute over public access to the shoreline and the pandemic have repeatedly delayed construction.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

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