Municipal council gives the green light for large refugee accommodation in Peiting

Created: 09/15/2022, 12:00 p.m

By: Christopher Peters

This is what the refugee accommodation could look like.

In addition to the 18 residential modules, a playground is also to be built on the property.

The number of parking spaces required by the Parking Space Ordinance will be reduced.

© Osenstätter

Now it's fixed: Peiting gets a large refugee accommodation.

On Tuesday, the municipal council approved the building application for the construction of 18 residential modules on Seestrasse with a clear majority.

However, the fact that 144 people could be accommodated there at maximum occupancy caused unease among many councillors.

Peiting – Nico Ostenstätter seemed a little nervous when he spoke on Tuesday to present his project to the Peiting municipal council.

A good year and a half ago, the managing director of the wood and veneer company of the same name in Schongau acquired the old factory premises on Seestrasse in Peiting.

Thought for a possible later use by the own company, there were no concrete plans for the property at first.

That changed when the Ukraine war broke out in March and thousands left their country and sought refuge in Germany.

Like many others, Osenstätter wanted to help.

At the time, he approached Mayor Peter Ostenrieder and offered to make the area and the empty building available to refugees free of charge, the young entrepreneur said.

However, during the assessment by the district office, it turned out that the property was not suitable for this purpose.

This is how the idea of ​​creating something new came about.

Residential modules with PV system and heat pump

Osenstätter used his contacts in the construction industry and found what he was looking for at a partner company in the Allgäu.

There they develop highly insulated residential modules that seemed made for the purpose.

Each of the planned 18 modules has a living space of around 64 square meters, divided into two bedrooms with their own bathroom and a common room with a kitchen.

The modules are cooled in summer and heated in winter by a heat pump, and a fresh air exchanger ensures a good climate inside.

The necessary electricity is supplied by PV modules on the roofs of the residential modules and the existing building, only part of which will be demolished.

The former operations manager's apartment remains, the rooms of which can still be used.

"It was important to us that we were very energy-efficient with the project," said the young entrepreneur,

who implements the project as a builder.

The living modules would probably even meet the highest standard KfW40.

We also thought about the children who will live there.

There will be a playground for them.

The residential modules have two bedrooms and are designed for a maximum of eight people.

© Osenstätter

How important the project is from the point of view of the district office was made clear by Helmut Hartl, head of the “Asylum benefits and integration” department.

700 Ukrainians are currently being accommodated privately, for 500 of them a new home has to be found.

In addition, the arrival of more refugees is expected in the near future.

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As much as the municipal council could understand the need for living space, the size of the complex in particular caused criticism.

With eight people per living module, there would be little privacy, Claudia Steindorf (SPD) worried.

"Six square meters per person in the bedroom, for me that's crazy and not human," criticized Herbert Salzmann (SPD).

With so many people in a small space, arguments are inevitable, warned Hermann Mödl (BVP), who reported on trainees from his company who had lived in large asylum accommodations.

"It was the worst time for her."

The maximum possible occupancy should not be exhausted

Hartl tried to allay the concerns.

A maximum capacity of 144 people will be tried to avoid.

This has always been successful in other institutions as well.

Mixed accommodation with families is also planned.

"We have had very good experiences with this." However, the accommodation is not limited to Ukrainians.

A security service is available around the clock.

The head of the department emphasized that the envisaged residential modules cannot be compared with container solutions such as those in Weilheim.

"It has a living character like a tiny house." In fact, as a district, you have had to take worse accommodation, district treasurer Norbert Merk (CSU) pointed out.

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The former factory building will be demolished to make room for the residential modules.

Only the former manager's apartment remains.

© Hans-Helmut Herold

But some advice remained skeptical.

Andreas Schmid (BVP) called for the project to be slimmed down.

With 144 people you are talking about one percent of the Peitingen population.

"There is a great danger that we will get a social focus there." Josef Sellmaier (BVP) wanted - unsuccessfully - to postpone the vote, referred to accommodation options that would be available in Peiting in the near future, but without giving details.

Rooms for homework and meetings in the existing building

Osenstätter and Hartl were open to the committee's desire to provide rooms in the existing building that can be used for meetings or to do homework.

The proposal to move the playground away from Seestraße because of truck traffic is also to be examined.

Putting it on inside the facility, as suggested by Thomas Elste (Greens), is not an option, according to Ostenrieder.

The playground should be open to the public and thus also serve as a social meeting place for Peitinger families.

In the end, the majority saw it like Franz Seidel (BVP).

In view of the accommodation problem, one cannot simply look the other way.

"I would also prefer a decentralized solution, but we don't have that." With a 16:5 vote, the municipal council gave the green light for the construction project.

It should be implemented by next spring.

The last larger asylum accommodation in the district was opened in December 2016 by the government of Upper Bavaria in Penzberg.

You can find more current news from the region around Schongau at Merkur.de/Schongau.