As of: March 6, 2024, 10:00 a.m
By: Christina Jachert-Maier
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A refugee accommodation is to be built in Marienstein.
© Thomas Plettenberg
Since it became known that accommodation for asylum seekers was to be set up in Marienstein, there have been protests.
However, there is a question mark behind the project.
The lease negotiations have not yet been completed.
Marienstein
– The news that a refugee home is planned in the Marienstein industrial area made waves in the summer of 2023.
As reported, the Waakirchner building committee approved in August the conversion of a former administration building as accommodation for around 40 asylum seekers.
But when – and perhaps even if – refugees will move in there is still an open question.
No lease has been signed yet.
“We are still in the middle of contract negotiations,” explains district office spokeswoman Sabine Kirchmair.
She couldn't say anything further.
The building is the former administrative headquarters of the Marienstein cement works, which closed in 1998.
The municipality of Waakirchen had repeatedly firmly rejected residential use at this point in order to preserve the commercial area as such and not to endanger the operations of the local companies.
Use is limited to three years
The owners finally offered the house to the district office for use as a refugee home.
It is considered a special building, not a residential building.
The local council's building committee agreed with regard to the legal situation, but limited the period of use as asylum seekers' accommodation to three years.
According to Mayor Norbert Kerkel, this will not be changed.
So far no request for an extension has been made to him: “We haven’t heard anything for a while now.”
Reconstruction is a prerequisite
In Marienstein, the prospect of a refugee home sparked fears in the neighborhood.
Many fear.
that the accommodation of young men in particular poses a threat to security in the village.
There were protests such as an online petition and posters.
Other villagers see the situation calmly: The Asylum Helpers Group has strengthened itself and is prepared to move into the accommodation.
However, nothing will happen there quickly.
For use as accommodation, modifications such as wall breakthroughs and the expansion of the cooking and sanitary areas are necessary.
This point is also likely to be the subject of ongoing contract negotiations.