The City Council met: How some councillors dream of a quiet meeting venue in Machern

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One is allowed to dream, after all. Even city councillors are allowed to dream – of a beautiful, peacefully situated villa in Machern, where one can not only sleep soundly but also hold party group retreats in a seclusion from city life that is otherwise hard to find in Leipzig. And so it came as no surprise that, at the council meeting on 1 July, no fewer than six councillors tabled the following motion: “The Machern training centre shall remain in the City of Leipzig’s portfolio. A sale to third parties is ruled out.”

The conference centre in Machern does not belong to the city, but to the Leipzig Transport Authority (LVB). Even though both the city administration itself and the council political groups are keen to use the villa to hold their closed-door meetings there. For a reasonable fee. But as we are now learning, council meeting after council meeting: in the end, money decides everything. The fact that the conference centre can be let so cheaply is also down to the fact that it is not accessible to people with disabilities and will, at some point in the near future, need to be completely refurbished.

Which is why the LVB has decided to do without the pretty villa. The administration’s position on the motion tabled by the six city councillors is put as follows: “In this context, the operation of the Machern Training and Development Centre was also reviewed. The analysis concluded that the Machern Training and Further Education Centre is not necessary for the provision of transport services and would have to be permanently subsidised from LVB funds, which would then no longer be available for its core business of mobility. The LVB management has therefore decided to cease use of the Machern Training and Further Education Centre as of 31 December 2026 and to find a buyer for the site. On 13 March 2026, in accordance with the information provided, the Supervisory Board of Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe was initially informed of the decision as part of the procedural process.”

This is actually quite clear wording: the conference centre only functions because it is currently subsidised by the LVB. If the city were to take over the property or even buy it, it would have to bear the cost of the subsidies itself. Given the current budgetary situation, this is unthinkable.

But at the council meeting on 1 July, even CDU councillor Michael Weickert seemed downright enthusiastic about the idea of somehow keeping the villa in municipal ownership.

Who should take over the villa?

“The Machern training centre will remain in the City of Leipzig’s portfolio. A sale to third parties is ruled out,” states the motion tabled by the six city councillors. “The General Administration Department will take the lead in drawing up an operational concept for the property by 31 August 2026. The aim is that, in future, all training courses and closed-door meetings organised by the City of Leipzig and its affiliated companies will, as a matter of principle, take place in Machern.”

They have also given some thought to the financial aspects. They justify their proposal as follows: “As part of budgetary consolidation both within the City of Leipzig and at its associated companies, cost-saving measures must be implemented. Training courses and closed-door meetings, which have hitherto incurred high conference costs, are to take place exclusively in Machern in future, as its conference rates are significantly lower than those of other training facilities. The property will remain part of the Municipal-Industrial Complex and will be used exclusively for this purpose in future. The aim is for the Machern conference centre to operate on a self-financing basis.”

A nice idea – though one that sidesteps the question of who is actually supposed to take ownership of and manage the property in future. Both cost money. This is an issue that Green Party city councillor Kristina Weyh addressed. She, too, is a member of the LVB supervisory board – but in her speech she clearly addressed the costs that would then be incurred.

The city administration, too, expressed scepticism in its statement as to whether a cost-covering usage model could be found for Machern that would not place a burden on the city budget: “The Lord Mayor is tasked with examining whether, and if so, how the conference centre in Machern can be transferred within the ‘City of Leipzig Group’ or used in a complementary manner to enable a sustainable, financially viable business model or to capitalise on synergies. The results of the review are to be presented in the fourth quarter of 2026. Until a decision is made, the Machern training centre will remain the property of LVB mbH. No sale will take place in 2026.”

It was actually a sensible proposal. However, it failed to secure a majority at the council meeting on 1 July and was rejected by 22 votes to 31, with 9 abstentions.

LVB alone decides

Meanwhile, the motion put forward by the six councillors who tabled it secured a majority with 29 votes in favour, 24 against and 9 abstentions. However, this does not alter the legal situation: the City of Leipzig has no authority whatsoever over the property. At best, it can urge the LVB management not to sell the property. But even in managing the property, the city would be overstepping its authority.

As the administrative proposal put it: “The Machern training centre is not a property directly owned by the City of Leipzig, but rather a property belonging to an indirect subsidiary (the Training and Further Education Centre of Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe). Decisions regarding its use, operation or sale therefore fall, in principle, within the remit of the respective governing bodies of the LVB.”

The City Council was therefore entirely the wrong body to discuss whether or not to sell the villa. This is something the city councillors on the LVB’s supervisory board ought to be aware of.

In the end, however, it will simply be money that decides what happens to the villa. For it is clear that, given its current budgetary situation, the City of Leipzig can neither purchase nor manage it. However lovely the nights in tranquil Machern may be, with a 2-kilometre walk to the nearest tram stop.

And the administration has also noted that the city has no shortage of conference venues: “For in-house seminars, the City of Leipzig predominantly uses premises belonging to the City of Leipzig and the Verwaltungs- und Wirtschafts-Akademie Leipzig GmbH (VWA), through which the majority of training programmes are organised. The VWA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the City of Leipzig and meets the necessary requirements. From a technical perspective, the training and further education centre of Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe cannot be used at present, as it is unsuitable in terms of space and is inconveniently located. Creating the necessary conditions for its use would involve additional expenditure that cannot currently be financed.”

Sometimes it seems as though certain council groups simply keep forgetting that Leipzig is in a financial crisis, in which it simply cannot afford to spend money on such pipe dreams.