An area of almost 59 thousand square meters, on the border with Swiss and the city of Varese. The value of the former Binda Sottrici paper mill, between They see Olona e Lozza, it’s about 1 million euros. It could be a resource for the local economy, but, since the bankruptcy in the 90s, the promises of reclamation of local councils and Lombardy region they never materialized. The last case was the negotiations with Decathlon and Bricoman, stopped in 2017 by the bureaucracy. This area has therefore been abandoned for years and represents a problem for the safety of citizens and forenvironment. The main threat is i 20 thousand square meters of fibersasbestos (eternit) that cover the warehouses, in decay and a few kilometers from the river People and from the stream Quadronna. However, the bankruptcy of the property, Compagnia del Turismo, and the interest of a new investor have recently opened new perspectives. Administrations cannot retrace the script of the past.
The urban regeneration of disused industries is at the center of the struggles of many municipalities in the Olona Valley (Varese). For Binda Sottrici the projects were numerous, but they all ended without success. “It is difficult for a small municipality to find resources to invest,” he admits Giuseppe Licata, current mayor of Lozza (Italy Viva). The intervention of external operators is therefore essential. The paper mill area – in the center of the motorway junction Foothills, the passes with the Swiss, the roads to Varese and the rest of the province – has intrigued many companies. In 2008 Handyman – specialized in construction and DIY articles – e Decathlon – sports equipment sales group – propose to transform it into a commercial settlement. The project involves the intervention on an area of approx 92 thousand square meters. Of which 15mil de “Le Fontanelle”, a wooded area, not yet built. Despite the loss of virgin territory, the advantage of cutting down the dilapidated buildings of the former production site and “renaturalise” the land near the Quadronna seems greater. The idea also appeals to the property and administration of Lozza: it can give new life to the area and “create employment opportunities” for the people of Varese. The negotiation does not stop even for the repercussions of the economic crisis. In fact, the municipalities rely on land urbanization charges – the compensation for the construction of the work – for “a series of interventions to relaunch the historic center and cycle and pedestrian connections”, tells Enrico Baroffio (Northern League), mayor of Vedano Olona until 2014 and among the first interlocutors for the requalification. The risks associated with a lack of maintenance in the area are then evident: “Today it is not one of the most worrying sites at an environmental level, as a tannery or galvanic plant can be – explains the current mayor of Vedano Olona. Cristiano Citterio (civic list They see Viva) – The raw materials still stored there are those for paper processing: diesel oil, glass blocks, charcoal, cabbage, calcium carbonate and chlorides“. However, the warehouses are unsafe and the inspections – the last one carried out 5 years ago, in 2015 – showed a worrying state of deterioration, especially of the asbestos roofing. Then the rusty gates, the broken glass and the smashed doors do not stop those who want to enter the former paper mill: in 2008 and 2010 the structure it even hosts two rave parties.
The requalification has the approval of the Lombardy Region, but the first resistances emerge already in the first years of the negotiation. Confcommercio Varese openly takes sides against the project to defend the local economic and productive fabric. While I Neighboring mayors are worried about the unsustainable growth of traffic – attracted by the new settlement – on the Varesina state road. In 2014 – after the elections that replace the center-right junta – Giuseppe Licata di Lozza and Cristiano Citterio di Vedano signed a program agreement. Lombardy region he then becomes the main interlocutor of the deal, in an attempt to facilitate it. But his intervention is not enough. With a press release in July of 2017 Bricoman publicly announces that he is no longer involved in the reclamation of the area, due to unsustainability of the required investment. Decathlon stays at the table for a few more months, then retires in 2018. “The mayors have really fought – explains Licata – But the public has times and ways, while the private has others: it took 2 years to give the permits to build. So in the meantime the lenders have lost interest “. While Cristiano Citterio attributes the failure of the negotiations to the “rapidly changing economic period” and defends the validity of the agreement with the Region, to which “only the signature is missing of the last operator “.
For the former Vedanese mayor, Enrico Baroffio, on the other hand, the reasons for the failure are other: “With our political weight lost – after the 2014 vote – other dynamics took over – he explains – The program agreement has upset all the calculations on urbanization costs and the impact on traffic “Of the new shopping center. So many unforeseen costs have been added that companies have not been able to afford them. “The situation of the market it has changed a lot – reads the Bricoman press release – and no longer allows such an investment to be made ”. However, the company has not lost interest in Varese. In 2020 has opened a store in Venegono Inferiore, a few kilometers from Vedano Olona. The occupied area was virgin land. Any intervention on the Binda Sottrici paper mill, on the other hand, it has been standing still for years. The area, even if inserted in the Territory Government Plan, is privately owned and neither the Region nor the municipalities can monitor it or implement remediation plans for the most critical pollutants. But after the failure of Compagnia del Turismo, in recent months, the main creditor seemed interested in taking over the former production site. At the moment the plans are not clear, but they give hope to put a point on the troubled story of the area. Municipalities could therefore have another chance.