Stalled: The never-ending story of the "Mierscherdall" industrial zone

When Michel Malherbe set out to acquire land on the outskirts of his municipality almost a decade ago, the project for a new industrial estate was still under a good star. Within two years, as the DP mayor of Mersch recounts, he had the majority of a site covering more than 30 hectares. "I think many people were surprised that it happened so quickly." Perhaps he was too. After all, he said in good faith at the time: Now we can finally get started. In reality, however, the problems were only just beginning.

When Malherbe receives us in the Knights' Hall of the castle, which now serves as the community centre, large plans are spread across several tables. They show: Mersch has big plans. A new school, a conference centre, a new sports complex here, a large residential area there and, of course, the new industrial estate: projects that Malherbe had already inherited in part when he first took office as mayor in February 2016, as he said in an interview with Wort.

The existing municipal industrial estate, located at the northern end of Mersch next to Nordstrooss, is to be given an even bigger brother (see map). At the end of 2019, the municipalities of Mersch, Lorentzweiler and Lintgen formally sealed their cooperation and established the ZAMID municipal syndicate (Syndicat intercommunal pour la création, l'aménagement, la promotion et l'exploitation de zones d'activités économiques régionales Mierscherdall). In future, the three municipalities will operate the "Mierscherdall" business park on an area of just over 20 hectares, which has shrunk over the years for environmental reasons. 1.100 jobs are to be created. The only question is: when?