In a ruling dated 7 October 2026, the Higher Administrative Court of Lower Saxony lifted the provisional construction freeze on the Stade Surf Park. The First Senate upheld the appeals lodged by the project developer and the Hanseatic City of Stade. According to the statement, the decision is final and construction can now begin. The Hanseatic City plans to develop a special zone designated as a ‘surf park and leisure-related commercial area’, as well as a commercial estate, on a site covering just under 17 hectares. The leisure and sports facility is to include a large water basin with a wave machine and will be equipped with catering facilities and accommodation. The environmental organisation BUND had previously secured the construction freeze.
Background to the planning process
In its judgement of 2 October 2024, the First Senate had declared Development Plan No. 500/3, ‘Stade Commercial and Surf Park’, to be invalid, thereby bringing the project to a temporary halt. The plan area forms part of a priority zone for industrial facilities and commercial development covering approximately 160 hectares. The 2013 Regional Spatial Planning Programme for the district of Stade provides for the establishment, in particular, of large-scale industrial facilities in the manufacturing sector within this zone. The uses permitted under the development plan restricted the scope for establishing such large-scale industry too extensively. In view of this, the Senate has also suspended the building permit already granted for key parts of the surf park.
The town subsequently carried out a supplementary procedure; with regard to regional planning law, the district of Stade granted an exemption from the planning objectives. On 12 May 2026, the Stade Administrative Court rejected the applications to lift the provisional building freeze, which had been submitted following a renewed decision on the local development plan. The grounds for the decision stated that the development plan continued to contravene regional planning law, as the decision granting the deviation from planning objectives was still open to challenge and a legal action brought by the environmental association was likely to succeed. The Higher Administrative Court did not share this assessment.
The court’s reasoning
The First Senate amended the decision by order of 7 October 2026, thereby restoring the enforceability of the planning permission. The environmental organisation could not challenge the decision granting a deviation from the planning objective or the deviation from the objective of establishing large-scale industry associated with the surf park. The grounds for the decision state that the objective serves neither environmental protection nor does the surf park entail any greater or different environmental impacts compared with large-scale industrial facilities.
The court found that the city had successfully mitigated the impacts on nature and the landscape associated with the plan without any errors. The preliminary assessment of the environmental impact of the surf park, carried out as part of the planning permission process, was also found to be free of errors. With regard to the issues of groundwater and drinking water protection, the loss of a hedgerow and light emissions towards the Feerner Moor FFH site, the city’s assessment was found to be accurate. The project could not have any significant adverse environmental impacts that would trigger an obligation to carry out an environmental impact assessment. Appeals on the merits of the case remain possible. The decision will be published in the Lower Saxony judiciary’s case law database, which is accessible free of charge.
It is not yet clear when the surf park will finally be able to open. The surf pool, which covers an area of around 20,000 square metres, is set to offer a variety of wave types, ranging from gentle swells to challenging 2-metre barrels. According to the operators, the facility is expected to be capable of producing up to 1,000 waves per hour, with a ride time of up to 20 seconds.
For more information, see surfgarten.de