Whether the city will rent a former nursing home in Waldperlach to accommodate the homeless is still completely open. And yet strangers are already stirring up the mood against the plans – on leaflets that are not quite as accurate with the truth. Thomas Kauer (CSU), chairman of the district committee (BA) Ramersdorf-Perlach, clarifies that the warning against accommodation for “e.g. refugees” is misleading. Rather, the city is examining whether the building on Beowulfstrasse is suitable for accommodating “vulnerable groups”, such as homeless senior citizens and people with disabilities.
The fact that the anonymously written flyers, which were circulating throughout Waldperlach, also included the contact details of the head of the BA and Wolfgang Stefinger (CSU), a member of the Bundestag, was met with displeasure by both politicians. “The flyer gives the impression – and I’m afraid – that it was from Mr. Kauer and me. This is not the case!” Stefinger emphasized in a statement. He criticizes: “Here someone obviously has a political concern – the prevention of accommodation for refugees – for which he or she is not fighting with open eyes, but with intriguing methods.” It sounds similar with Thomas Kauer: “If someone has a concern, then they should sign their name and not express it anonymously in a cloak-and-dagger operation.”
Kauer took the leaflets and the resulting “misinformation and rumours” as an opportunity for a clarification at the BA meeting. According to this, around 30 elderly people lived in the former “Dorothea House” until the operator gave up the facility due to pending renovation measures. The assertion on the flyer that the nursing home was “vacated” is therefore wrong, emphasized the BA boss. Rather, the house was sold in 2020; two years later, the new owner submitted a preliminary request for the construction of a residential complex with 30 apartments, but this was rejected. According to Kauer, a new owner subsequently acquired the property and offered it to the city of Munich for rent. This offer is currently being examined, for which purpose the house was inspected in March.
“This inspection did not go unnoticed in Waldperlach,” said the BA chairman. “Since then there have been various speculations.” These were nourished by the flyers, which speak out against an “alternative use of the object”. “There are definitely no refugees accommodated there because the property is not suitable for this,” emphasized Kauer. Rather, older people could move in there who have lost their home or can no longer live alone. “That means the group of people would be relatively identical to those who were previously in the retirement home,” said Kauer. He was informed by the town hall that a town council decision would be required to rent the property. “And that’s definitely not going to happen before the summer break.”
In order to get rid of the rumors, he asked the social department to send a representative of the Office for Housing and Migration to the Perlach town hall meeting on May 10, Kauer said. All other questions can be answered there.