In a conversation, the district governor informed Mr L. that the building director of the Burgenland building directorate would deal with the matter. Mr L. could not understand this, as he had already submitted three plans to the authority together with the decision of the surveying office, especially as the building director was "responsible for roads and not for measuring distances in vineyards".
Around seven weeks after the conversation, an employee from the surveying office of the Burgenland provincial government actually came to measure the distance between the plantings and Mr L.'s property and agreed with Mr L.: the neighbour had to remove a number of his plantings. "However, Mr L. will probably be left with his costs of 8,000 euros, which have been incurred in the eight years that the matter has been pending. The authorities should have acted more quickly here, immediately after Mr L. reported the unlawful plantings," warns Ombudswoman Elisabeth Schwetz, calling for a service-oriented approach from the authorities.
Vine Uhudler
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