A group of Uithoorn residents handed over almost two thousand signatures to the city council last night. The signatories of the petition are against the expansion of the parking lot at the town hall, because this plan means that sixteen healthy trees in the Zijdelmeer protected nature reserve will be cut down.
The group presented the petition yesterday in the run-up to the housing and work committee meeting. The position of the people of Uithoorn is clear: do not expand the parking lot and leave the trees. “In times of climate crisis, it is irresponsible to cut down such old trees,” says local resident and signatory Simone van Dam.
The municipality wants to restore greenery, but that is not enough for the residents. “Small trees that replace it will not provide the same CO2 capture and shade areas, while that is so important for the climate.”
“The green is always an easy victim”
PvdA councilor Marga Moeijes supports the petition. “The residents have also committed themselves to speaking out for greenery,” she says. “Nature is always an easy victim. After all, trees cannot speak.” Like local residents, the councilor is in favor of banning cars and believes that Uithoorn residents should make more use of public transport.
Half empty parking lot
There is no doubt that Uithoorn has a parking problem. The residents only wonder whether a parking lot at the town hall will solve this. “There are currently too few spaces in the center, but no one is going to park their car all the way at the town hall. Even during peak times on weekends, the parking lot there is now half empty.”
The municipality has already adjusted its plan once. The parking spaces on Korte Boterdijk, which were in the previous plan, have been removed. The residents felt that this would create an unsafe traffic situation. There will now be 46 parking spaces, instead of the previously proposed 49 parking spaces. In addition, there is clarity about the number of healthy trees that should be cut down. These are sixteen.
The residents themselves also have a solution. While the municipality wants to cut down trees at the back of the town hall to create parking spaces, it wants to remove ten parking spaces from the square in front of the entrance to the town hall. “Just leave it there,” says Simone. But the municipality wants ‘a green appearance’ at the front of the town hall.
Necessary
Moreover, according to the municipality, the trees have to be removed anyway. Even if the parking lot expansion does not go ahead, the trees will have to be cut down. “The site must be raised to properly collect rainwater and to ensure that nothing floods,” the municipality previously explained to NH. Research she had carried out shows that the trees would not survive this raising.
The residents have their doubts about this. “I think this should definitely be looked at more closely,” says Simone. “For example, what consequences will there be for the neighborhood behind it if you accumulate that land and not the rest?”
Too many loose ends
A majority of councilors present said last night that there is little chance that the plan will be approved at the Council meeting on November 2. The information available now seems too limited to make a decision. They agree with Simone: “It is a plan with too many loose ends and ambiguities.”