It was not an evening like everyone else in the municipality of Westerveld. After the council meeting at the town hall in Diever last night, mayor Jouke Spoelstra concluded that two protests were held. “In general, I look back very satisfied on this evening.”
Bulb cultivation was the theme of the evening and it was clear that two different perspectives face each other. On the one hand, agricultural Westerveld, which stands up for the interests of the farmers. On the other hand, poison -free Westerveld, a protest group that is concerned about the consequences for health and nature due to plant protection products.
“You notice that there are many different perspectives on floriculture in society,” Spoelstra explains. “I think it’s great that you as a mayor can say: note, no matter how bad you differ, we are all shopping in the same supermarket. So take that into account.”
The evening took Spoelstra more preparation time than usual for a council meeting. “You work together with the public prosecutor and the police on different scenarios. We had contact with both initiators of the demonstrations in advance and they were really looking for peacefulness. But you have to prepare for everything, so that also included extra police deployment. Everything has been aimed at de-escalation.”