Berlin, 8 October 2026. In a ruling handed down on 7 October 2026, Lüneburg Superior Administrative Court upheld appeals filed by the project developer and the Hanseatic City of Stade, rejecting the application for interim relief submitted by the environmental organisation BUND in its entirety (case: 1 ME 69/26). As a result, building permission for the 22,000 square metre surfing basin, including infrastructure buildings, has once again been reinstated. After more than three and a half years and a total of five court rulings, the path is now clear for the project to go forward. There is no recourse of appeal against the ruling.
Acting as counsel for the project developer of the surfing park in the legal dispute, which has been ongoing since 2023, were Redeker partner and attorney Prof Dr Olaf Reidt and Redeker attorney Dr Alexandra Kürschner.
Stade Surfpark is a recreational and sports facility offering surfing on a water basin equipped with a wave machine along with catering and accommodation facilities. The ‘Gewerbe- und Surfpark Stade’ development plan drawn up by the Hanseatic City of Stade for an area encompassing around 17 hectares had already been the subject of a judicial review before Lüneburg Superior Administrative Court. In October 2024, the Superior Administrative Court had initially declared the development plan invalid because it was not in line with regional planning objectives, at the same time provisionally suspending the building permit for key parts of the project. The decision made a splash due to the Court's basic remarks relating to climate protection requirements in urban land‑use planning (the so‑called ‘climate obiter dictum’, case 1 KN 34/23). In a first for Germany's high courts, the ruling established that planners are not required to quantify climate impacts when preparing land‑use plans.
The Hanseatic City of Stade subsequently took steps to rectify the shortcomings identified by the Court. A key breakthrough came when the District of Stade authorised a departure from the Regional Spatial Planning Programme. This led the Higher Administrative Court to reverse the lower court’s ruling, reinstating the right to proceed with construction under the planning permit and confirming the validity of the local development plan, which the city had successfully rectified.
The BUND environmental organisation therefore failed to overturn the decision allowing the surfing park to depart from the area's designated use for large‑scale industry. The Court found that the surfing park would have no additional or significantly different environmental impacts compared with the industrial development originally envisaged. The BUND'S other challenges to the project also failed.
“The Superior Administrative Court's ruling marks a major step forward for Stade Surfpark. It confirms that the city has successfully addressed the planning requirements identified by the Court and that the environmental objections raised against the project do not stand up to legal scrutiny,” observes Prof. Dr Olaf Reidt. “After years of complex legal proceedings, the way is now clear for work on the project to begin.”
