13,000 sign petition to save Aflenz rehabilitation centre

More than 13,000 people have signed a petition to preserve the rehabilitation centre in Aflenz, in the Bruck-Mürzzuschlag district, ORF reported. The signatures are due to be handed to Health and Social Affairs Minister Korinna Schumann on Friday.

The pension insurance institution plans to close the centre and consolidate treatment for metabolic diseases at its facility in St. Radegund, in the Graz-Umgebung district, where 100 additional rooms are planned.

The Aflenz centre has operated since 1970 and was rebuilt in 1998. Petition organiser Peter Redl wants to present Schumann with the signatures and arguments that he says have not received enough consideration.

“On the one hand, it concerns technical points, because apparently incorrect figures have been used. On the other hand, it concerns the region and what this facility really means,” Redl said.

The Aflenz valley was already at a disadvantage, he said, adding that the Aflenzer Bürgeralm closed last year and that other developments had also affected the area. Closing the rehabilitation centre would create “a very serious situation on the labour market”, Redl said.

Redl also plans to inform the pension insurance institution and the Finance Ministry about the petition. He said the pension insurance institution had not responded despite several attempts to make contact.

“We have hope until the very end. However, I have to be honest: that hope is diminishing day by day,” Redl said. The longer preparations for the expansion in St. Radegund continued, he added, the worse he considered Aflenz’s prospects.

The final decision rests with the pension insurance institution. The petition organisers are hoping the handover will secure support from the responsible ministry.