City administration building of the Stadtkevelaer

Accommodation for refugees

Information from the city administration on the Xantec hall in Kervenheim

The pilgrimage town of Kevelaer - like all municipalities in NRW - has been dealing with an increased allocation of refugees by the state of NRW (specifically: Arnsberg district government, special responsibility for the whole of NRW) since 2015. Neither the respective city administration nor the respective city council has the authority to decide whether and how many refugees are accommodated in the municipality. This is a mandatory task for the municipalities to fulfill according to instructions; the mayor and the city administration are the recipients of orders here. The district administrator also has no decision-making authority here. The assigned task is to be carried out by the respective municipality.

Initially, the problem was solved from 2016 by renting the sports hotel on Grotendonker Straße with a capacity of around 200 beds, among other things. After five years, the rental contract expired during a phase with only a few new arrivals and was not extended. A few months later, the influx of refugees increased massively once again due to the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022 and various other crises around the world, such as the withdrawal of Western troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban coming to power. More people are also coming to us from other countries, such as Syria, Iraq, Turkey and various African countries. It was no longer possible to rent the sports hotel again due to a change of ownership. The city then tried to cushion the situation by renting or buying buildings, which ultimately proved insufficient. The Croatian gymnasium on Jahnstraße had to be used and has been permanently occupied ever since, with a brief interruption. When the youth hostel on Schravelen unexpectedly ceased operations at the end of 2022, the city initially tried unsuccessfully to rent or possibly buy the youth hostel for accommodation. A later attempt by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia to rent the youth hostel in order to operate a state facility there, which would have counted towards Kevelaer's allocation quota, also failed in the fall of 2023; no agreement was reached with the German Youth Hostel Association. In the meantime, the town continued to look for accommodation options.

In this context, the city administration presented several locations, primarily urban areas, at a meeting of the Committee for Climate, Environment and Facility Management on February 9, 2023 in the non-public section, where accommodation for refugees is at least theoretically conceivable. It was explained that the building at Rheinstraße 102 could be rented in the short term. However, it was already clear at this point that it could only be rented for a maximum of two years. The building was rented and currently accommodates 62 people. The rental agreement expires at the end of January 2025. The locations Rosenbroecksweg (behind the depot), Ladestraße and Alte Heerstraße were proposed by the administration at the meeting and agreed by the committee in the prioritization. A refugee shelter with approx. 100 beds is currently being built at the Ladestrasse site. From the fall, another refugee shelter of the same size will be built at the Rosenbroecksweg site. On the Alte Heerstraße site, on the other hand, affordable housing is to be built, of which there is currently far too little in Kevelaer. This project is currently in the development planning process. In this respect, the priority list from the submission has been completed.

In addition to the Croatian gym, the Hubertus elementary school gym has also been occupied by 35 refugees since summer 2023. The school was promised in advance that the hall would be used to accommodate refugees for a maximum of one year and would then be made available to the school (and clubs) again. This gym is therefore to be vacated during the summer vacations. At the end of 2023, the city also rented the Altes Pastorat building in Winnekendonk. It currently accommodates 28 people. However, this lease expires at the end of 2024.

The current situation is that the pilgrimage town of Kevelaer has accommodated a total of 736 people, 580 of whom live in the area of Kevelaer Mitte and 110 in the area of Winnekendonk. Doctors, pharmacies and supermarkets are available there. So far, the city has managed to almost completely exclude the three smaller villages from the occupancy rate (currently Twisteden 18 people, Wetten 12 people, Kervenheim 16 people, including 12 German homeless people in Winnekendonker Straße 1).

As various rental contracts expire at the end of the year and around 100 people will then need new accommodation, the capacity of the accommodation currently under construction on Ladestrasse is already exhausted. The occupancy of a second gymnasium should also be avoided at all costs. Of course, it would also be desirable to free up the Croatian gymnasium. However, this is completely unrealistic in the coming months. The state has announced that the local authorities can once again expect increased allocations in the summer months.

Against this backdrop, the purchase of the Boemsfeld 9 commercial property, which had been up for sale for some time, came before the political committees at the end of 2023. The state had just announced that the negotiations for the youth hostel had failed and there were no serious alternatives on the market. This submission was also dealt with in the non-public section because all property matters (such as personnel matters) must be dealt with in the non-public section. Martin Brandts took the floor as a member of the council and head of Kervenheim and explained the concerns and worries of the citizens of Kervenheim in detail. After further discussion, the topic was postponed to the Council, where the agenda item was then finally dealt with on December 19, 2023. Here, the mayor once again stated that the purchase of land was not a particularly good option, but that there were no better options. A controversial discussion ensued in which alternatives were also discussed. A request was made from the city council to vote by secret ballot, which was accepted by a majority. The council then decided by secret ballot with a narrow majority in favor of purchasing the site. Social care was already discussed at the meeting, as were the problems at Winnekendonker Strasse 1.

The property was subsequently acquired. The purchase has now been completed. Following this, concrete planning began.

FAQ:

No answer from the city administration can be all-encompassing. If you have any further questions, please send an e-mail to dominik.pichler@kevelaer.de.

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