Biel/Nidau: Mobimo's major Agglolac project will not be realized

The cities of Biel and Nidau are drawing a line under the controversial large-scale Agglolac project that Mobimo wanted to develop on the former Expo site on Lake Biel. The Agglolac project company, which was founded in 2013 by the towns of Nidau and Biel and Mobimo AG, will be dissolved, Biel and Nidau announced. With the dissolution agreement, all parties will refrain from pursuing the project further. There will be no compensation payments.

The original aim of the project company was to create a legally binding plan for a residential quarter with a large recreational zone by the lake. Mobimo wanted to create a quarter with a gross floor area of around 120,000 square meters on the site between the bay of Lake Biel and Nidau Castle under the name Agglolac. A public park was planned on the lakeshore, behind which various buildings for a total of 1,500 residents were to be built, including a high-rise building 48 meters high. However, the project was highly controversial among the population and did not receive a majority in the city parliaments of Nidau and Biel in March 2021. Planning was initially put on hold, but now Agglolac has finally come to an end.

The cities of Nidau and Biel explain that the political environment for successful cooperation between the cities for the Expo site is currently lacking. As the planning authority, Nidau is aware that outdated usage regulations apply to the Expo site and that these should be replaced as soon as possible. (ah)