“We’re done with it,” says Francis Schreuder. She has enjoyed camping at the campsite for 40 years. Now she has had enough of the uncertain future. “So we took the step to leave ourselves.” She has now found a new place at another campsite.
Sjors Schenkel is less happy. “I have to go back to the top three,” he says. After 52 years, he leaves his familiar place empty. “And there are more people here who are on the third floor in Amsterdam, and they have now lost everything.”
It must be empty before 2027
MarinaParken has bought the site and sent about half of the regular guests a letter stating that they must vacate the site before 2027. And so there are more and more empty and deserted places on the once cozy campsite.
An owner tried to tow his caravan away, but it sank in the mud in the middle of a walking path. There is still some abandoned scrap here and there and in the meantime there are buyers floating around sticking notes on the doors. They hope to be able to take over the camper for a low price.
“We’ll stay as long as possible”
Leo van Aken and Ellen van Turenhout have also received these notes on the door, but are not considering selling the place. “We will stay as long as possible,” says Ellen. Their place is also on the list that must be delivered empty. “We have set up an association and they have hired a lawyer,” Leo says.
In any case, campers who stay another summer will find their once beloved campsite much emptier next year.