Popular campsite in Ahlbeck closed over alleged illegal operation

Jana and Thomas Ryba have closed their eight-pitch motorhome stopover in the seaside resort of Ahlbeck on Usedom. According to Ostsee-Zeitung, the closure follows a multi-year dispute with authorities over the site's compliance with building law. The stopover's website has been taken down and regular guests were informed by email. The district of Vorpommern-Greifswald states that the site was both built and operated unlawfully, and a prohibition-of-use procedure is ongoing. Reopening would require a building permit, which in turn requires the legal planning preconditions to be established, in particular through a land-use planning procedure. The municipality of Heringsdorf also cites missing permits: the plot lies in an outlying area under building law and within a landscape protection area, so nature and environmental protection issues must be examined.