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Walzenhausen
“We feel betrayed by the government”: residents demand an immediate stop at the Sonneblick asylum center
After the first asylum seekers moved into the new Sonneblick asylum center in Walzenhausen on Monday, residents are now talking. In a letter they demand an immediate stop for the move. The Ausserrhoder government did not adhere to a written agreement that was part of the building permit, they say. The canton rejects the accusations. The Walzenhausen community also contradicts this.
On Monday, the first 30 asylum seekers moved to the new Sonneblick asylum center in Walzenhausen.
For five years, Hanspeter Baumgartner fought, as part of the “Residents Sonneblick” committee, against the new asylum center in Walzenhausen, which officially began operating on Monday. And he still does not give up: “We feel ignored by the government and those responsible for Sonneblick”, says a circular that Baumgartner sent on behalf of the committee to the community of Walzenhausen, the Ausserrhoder government, lawyer Werner Ritter and the Sent the press .
Hanspeter Baumgartner, Committee “Sonneblick Residents”
In it, the committee accuses the canton of breaching the agreement that was signed between the opponents and the client in October last year. “Absolutely cheeky,” is Baumgartner’s comment. For this reason, it requires an immediate stop to enter the “Sonneblick”.
“An emergency number has not yet been received”
After years of legal dispute that continued until the Federal Supreme Court, on September 17, 2020, the Walzenhausen Building Permit Commission granted the Sonneblick Foundation permission to convert the Güetli property into an asylum center. Instead, residents filed an appeal with the Department of Construction and Economy on October 12. However, the parties were able to reach an agreement and concluded an agreement, which is at the disposal of the “Appenzeller Zeitung”.
In this, the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden committed to deliver the fire protection concept, the definitive care and operation concept, a traffic concept for the access road and a Covid-19 concept to the appellant prior to the opening of the center. of asylum. The canton also assured the runners-up, and thus the returning users, that they can reach a contact person by phone at any time in case of problems at the asylum center. The corresponding telephone number will be made known to the initiators and recurring users as well as to the entire population before the opening of the asylum center, according to the agreement.
Hanspeter Baumgartner now says that until the opening of the asylum center on Monday only a few points of the agreement had been observed. Also, I didn’t know anything about the opening. Baumgartner says:
“We learn from the press that the first asylum seekers will move out on Monday.”
Baumgartner also claims that the agreement is part of the building permit. The fact that the canton does not adhere to this agreement infuriates him: “It is not exactly reliable when decisions are made above our heads.” For this reason, he asks the Walzenhausen city hall to stop the opening at the “Sonneblick” until the points mentioned above have been fulfilled and respected.
Canton rejects the accusations
Baumgartner also questions whether the concepts mentioned were presented to the Walzenhausen community. Mayor Michael Litscher rejects it. Upon request, you will be informed that the building acceptance test protocol dated February 18, 2021 shows that the complementary and modified concepts stipulated in the conditions will be available to the building authorities upon receipt on February 16, 2021. The same applies to the acceptance report of Assekuranz AR. “In terms of construction law, the asylum center can be occupied.”
Michael Litscher, Mayor Walzenhausen.
Litscher also points out that the agreement is not, as the residents committee claims, an integral part of the building permit. “The building permit was granted on September 17, 2020, but the agreement was only signed at a later date.” Furthermore, the agreement was only signed between the appellant and the client (Sonneblick Foundation), the municipality of Walzenhausen is not part of it. “Therefore, it is up to the canton to keep the commitments made there,” says Litscher.
The canton rejects the accusations made by the neighborhood committee. It is “unfounded and wrong,” he said in a press release. All the concepts for the operation of the asylum center were sent to the responsible legal representative on the same day as the acceptance of the building on Thursday, February 18, 2021. The canton has thus complied with the relevant agreements.
