To their great shock, residents of fourteen houses in Hoogeveen saw that the municipality is making plans for the city center, with their houses disappearing. Work is now underway on an alternative plan that would allow the homes to remain standing. It remains to be seen whether that plan will ultimately succeed.
First of all, the municipality wants to talk to the residents of the homes on Bilderdijklaan, the mayor and aldermen wrote in a letter. The conversation looks back on the process so far. It is also discussed how the plan will be developed ‘together’ while preserving the homes.
Residents were told in May that the municipality of Hoogeveen had established pre-emptive rights to their homes. This means that if they want to sell their house, the municipality has the first option to buy it.
The municipality is doing this because it is making plans to renovate the adjacent Nicolaas Beetsplein. The homes and garages on which the municipality has a claim are located on the edge of the area.
Several plans were drawn up, in the preferred variant of the mayor and aldermen the fourteen houses will make way. In return, 170 homes will be built, including by constructing buildings of up to seven floors.
Hoogeveen calls the area outdated and not enough greenery. The squares are located at the back of the shops on the Hoofdstraat and consist of parking spaces and garages. The municipality wants to combine living, parking (possibly a parking garage) and supplying the shops in a green environment.
Residents of the fourteen homes said they were ‘unpleasantly affected’ by the message that their homes may disappear. “As if a bomb had hit,” Liesje Sangers looks back on the moment she was told that a claim had been made on her house. “I think it’s terrible.”
The pre-emptive right is a way for the municipality to prevent speculators from buying up homes. It does not force residents to sell their house to the municipality. The municipality is working on a relocation scheme, hoping that residents will want to leave voluntarily.
Sangers has lived on Bilderdijklaan in the heart of Hoogeveen for about twelve years. “But I have neighbors who have lived there for 30 years,” she says. She doesn’t want to worry about moving at all. In fact, the more she thinks about it, the more she appreciates her current place.
“The house may be a bit old. But it is a prime location, you can walk straight to the Hoofdstraat. And here you have nice large windows and a garden. There is the option of moving to an apartment, but I’m not looking forward to that.”
Residents already spoke during a council meeting in July and placed pamphlets behind their windows. In addition to the uncertainty about the future of their home, the way of communicating also causes irritation. Sangers and her neighbors blame the municipality for a lack of communication. According to the municipality, there have been sufficient opportunities to be informed.
The majority of the municipal council understands that the plans affect residents, but also sees that work needs to be done in the area.
However, it was unanimously decided in July that a variant should be developed in which the homes are retained. That plan must also consider what should be done with the adjacent Bilderdijkplein. Ultimately, the municipal council decides which variant is chosen and therefore whether the fourteen homes will remain standing or whether they will still have to be demolished.
The municipality hopes to be able to start building the new homes on Nicolaas Beetsplein in 2029 at the earliest, with the project expected to be completed in 2031.