After protests from residents, the municipal building holding Pro Potsdam wants to reduce the height of the planned apartments on a former sports field on Eichenweg. Pro-Potsdam boss Bert Nicke said on Tuesday evening during an eagerly awaited residents’ meeting that the five modular houses planned there should be a maximum of three stories high. In the direction of the neighboring buildings, two buildings with four floors were originally planned. This caused dissatisfaction among local residents.
More than 450 people had come to the fully occupied gymnasium of the Ludwig-Renn elementary school in the neighboring district of Eiche – at similar town meetings in other districts there had been significantly fewer. Apart from a few heckling, the debate was mostly factual.
Instead of four floors, there should be three on Eichenweg
By doing without one storey, a maximum of 71 residential units will be built on Eichenweg instead of 79 apartments. A total of 72 apartments are to be built in five buildings on Kossätenweg. All apartments are to be provided initially for refugees, but later also for low-income families and the homeless. A planning application has already been submitted for the Eichenweg site. Houses for guest scientists were once planned on Kossätenweg, says Nicke.
The city administration responded to further concerns from Golm. At the accommodations themselves, more parking spaces than previously planned are to be created, it said. The driveways have also been redesigned. Heated with air heat pumps, so Nicke.
The Ludwig-Renn elementary school is to be temporarily given an additional teaching container so that more children can be taught there. A new day care center is also planned on site, said youth welfare office head Robert Pfeiffer. However, he cannot guarantee that every new elementary school child in Golm and Eiche will also find a school place there.
This was met with displeasure, and the lack of secondary schools, medical practices, sports fields or youth clubs in the district also caused criticism. The connection to public transport was also criticized.
Mayor Mike Schubert (SPD), who lives in Golm himself, promoted the locations. The city must take in a growing number of refugees according to the applicable legal regulations, and accommodation must be created for them – in all parts of the city where the municipality has land.
The point is that, for example, gymnasiums for schools do not have to be occupied, said Schubert. In Golm, they want to use simplified building permit procedures for the new accommodations. The advantage of the houses is that they can also be reused by the people of Potsdam.
The AfD demo in front of the hall had eight participants
In front of the sports hall, the AfD city faction chairman Chaled-Uwe Said spoke to the arriving visitors of the event via loudspeaker. He subordinated “the incumbent mayor” to a campaign. All those who have critical questions about the plans for Golm would be put in the right-hand corner by Schubert along with “a right-wing extremist party, not the AfD”. Before the eight demonstrating AfD members held up a banner with the inscription “Remigration now!” Said offered the CDU a cooperation: “Dear colleagues from the CDU, we are ready for a conversation.”
About 30 demonstrators opposed the AfD. The party youth organizations Jusos, Grüne Jugend, Junge Liberale, Linksjugend Solid and the general student committee of the University of Potsdam had jointly called for the protest.
CDU MP Ludwig sees no place in Golm for the refugees
The far-right party “III. Weg” had created a mood against the housing plans with flyers and agitated against foreigners. The CDU member of parliament Saskia Ludwig also distributed flyers on which she called on citizens to submit questions about the project. She also demands that the city accommodate the refugees in Krampnitz. In contrast to Golm, there is enough space there.
The town hall rejects this – Krampnitz is still an undeveloped construction site without sufficient infrastructure and is therefore not available at short notice, according to Schubert. Ludwig, on the other hand, said with applause that from the end of 2024 the first people would also live in Krampnitz. Sufficient day-care centers and schools will also be available there. Schubert said that only affected the sold old building stock in Krampnitz; The state requirement is that no more than 5,000 people are allowed to live there without a tram connection.
The Golm mayor Kathleen Knier (independent) criticized, among other things, the information policy of the town hall. Many questions have remained unanswered for months. Schubert said that sometimes information takes time – and at events like this the questions are now being answered.
There was also approval at the meeting. Among others, Hanna Löhmannsröben from the parish church council of the Evangelical Church in Golm said that one saw oneself as responsible for helping to integrate the new residents. There will be contacts for local neighbors, according to the city administration. A provider for the accommodation is to be found by tender.
