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Norderney (dpa) - The move of the Coastal Research Center (FSK) of the state of Lower Saxony from the island of Norderney to the mainland has been delayed.
Temporarily, some of the 25 employees at the facility are to work in buildings belonging to the Lower Saxony State Office for Water Management, Coastal and Nature Conservation (NLWKN) in the north (Aurich district) - another part is to move into office containers there.
These have been delivered, but the connection to the electrical engineering and IT is still missing, as the Ministry of the Environment announced to the German Press Agency.
The connection should therefore take place at the beginning of the new year.
The reason for the delays was "corona-related restrictions," it said.
According to the original plans, the relocation of the research center, which is organizationally assigned to the NLWKN, should be completed by autumn.
As the Ministry of the Environment announced in September, the facility should leave the island sooner than initially planned and move to a makeshift quarter in the north, since the ailing FSK buildings are no longer safe for employees and visitors.
The ministry announced about a year ago that the research center would leave the island.
The renovation costs are too high to preserve the buildings of the Insel-Dienststelle - in addition, the relocation should promote scientific collaboration and the use of databases, so the reasoning at the time.
With the move, the ministry says it wants to strengthen the work of the facility.
The FSK researches and advises the state government on issues relating to coastal and nature conservation.
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The Greens in the Lower Saxony state parliament had recently repeatedly criticized the move.
There is neither a justified reason for the hasty relocation of the employees, nor a reliable cost comparison for a renovation at the site compared to a new building on the mainland, said the Greens MP Meta Janssen-Kucz at the beginning of December with a view to a current response from the state government Subject communicated.
In the request, the Ministry of the Environment, from the perspective of the Greens, stated, among other things, that conditions for further use of the building up to further refurbishment have now been implemented step by step.
According to the latest budget decisions by the state parliament, five million euros are now available for the future accommodation of the research center, according to the Ministry of the Environment.
Various possible locations for a new building are currently being compared.
The north location is preferred - a new building on Norderney is not an option.
The State Office for Building and Real Estate (NLBL) has been commissioned with the planning.
"The corresponding tests should be completed as soon as possible," said the Ministry of the Environment.
Website of the Coastal Research Center in the NLWKN
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Press release on request from the Green Group
State government answer