Trisha Cornforth, German news reporter for "Der Kanadier" newspaper as well as for CFN/RFC radio and television, from the end of 1978 to the end of May 1994 The original "Der Kanadier " was the weekly newspaper for the Canadian Forces in Europe. It was published in Lahr in the Black Forest, Germany, from 1 July 1970 until 25 May 1994, i.e. until just before Canadian Forces Base Lahr closed down in mid-August 1994.

Optimistic annual report on Lahr airfield land development

Optimistic tones were recenlty heard at the New Year’s reception given jointly by the Black Forest Airport Lahr Company (responsible for flying operations) and the two Lahr Airfield Industrial and Commercial Development Centres (IGZ and IPS) responsible for promoting the real estate located east and west of the runway).

In his annual report, Jürgen Gackstatter, CEO of the latter organisations, stated that Lahr had far surpassed its nearby counterparts, former military airfields at Baden-Soellingen and Bremgarten, in efforts to convert to business use and thereby reduce unemployment in the Upper Rhine Valley.

He pointed out that 203 firms employing more than 2000 people have now been established on the former Lahr base. Although the former Canadian Forces base at Baden-Soellingen (now known as Baden Airpark) has a functioning charger passenger airport terminal, it has only created 1000 jobs. Breisgau Business Park, the former German Airforce Base in Bremgarten (near Freiburg) has created 1300 jobs.

In 2001, IGZ invested 875 000 Euros in improving the standard of existing buildings, far more than either Baden or Bremgarten. According to Gackstatter, Progress was also made in removal of unsuitable premises: of the 419 buildings located on Lahr airfield area when the Canadian Forces left in 1994, 48% have been demolished but in Baden-Soellingen the figure is only 30%. Bremgarten leads in this respect, having demolished 75% of its original buildings. With a total of 32 hectares, Lahr lies ahead of the other two in the category of selling rather than renting out development land and premises; in Baden the comparable figure is 31 ha, in Bremgarten 20 ha.

On the subject of combatting Lahr airfield’s environmental pollution (mainly in the form of oil and gas seeping through the soil to the underground water table, often going back to the French period up to 1967), Gackstatter declared that IGZ was courageously tackling the problem whereas Baden hadn’t even tried.

However,Lahr’s development is not only a question of competition with regional rivals, it is also a race against time, because the provincial subsidies will only last until the end of 2007 and bureaucratic processes work slowly!

According to Ann Reynolds, CEO of Black Forest Airport Lahr, regular air freight operations should be possible from the end of March 2002 under the new Wiggins regime. Staffing and technical pre-requisites have been fulfilled except for the placing of a middle marker beacon which Friesenheim still has to approve on its territory.