“When people in Moerdijk find themselves in dire situations, we can offer them a helping hand.” Councilor Piet Geerts of the municipality of Zundert suggests the possibility of having Moerdijkers move to the site of the former Fort Oranje campsite in Rijsbergen. According to Geerts, the twenty-four hectares offer space for four hundred to six hundred homes.
The territory of the famous campsite in Rijsbergen has been owned by the municipality of Zundert since last year. The municipal council has not yet made a decision about the future of the site. “We have the space and that is why this would be a great solution for the residents of Moerdijk,” says Geerts.
“It is a Brabant idea to help each other.”
Geerts: “I don’t expect that everyone from Moerdijk will want to come this way. Moreover, there must also be room for our own residents. The location is large enough to give everyone a place.”
According to the councilor of Local Perspective, Fort Oranje is ‘a serious option that can be further investigated’. “It is a Brabant idea to help each other. We are also not strangers to each other because the municipalities of Zundert and Moerdijk regularly work together administratively.”
Pieter Geerts does not know what a ‘Moerdijkwijk’ could look like. “You could have an urban planner look at that. It could become a neighborhood with possibly its own shops. But we still have plenty of time to develop this further in the coming years.”
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Politicians in Moerdijk call the idea of the councilor of the municipality of Zundert ‘creative’ but far too ‘premature’. “We appreciate thinking about the future of Moerdijk, but first it is the politicians’ turn and then the residents decide how they want to organize their future,” says Erik van der Linden of the VVD in Moerdijk.
As far as colleague Arno Fens of Onhouden Moerdijk is concerned, relocation is not even an option. “We are completely against the closure of the village. This discussion must simply stop. As far as we are concerned, the proposal is ill-considered, unnecessary and irresponsible.”
“I would actually like to offer people in Moerdijk an alternative to give them peace of mind.”
“I would actually like to offer people in Moerdijk an alternative to give them peace of mind.”
Piet Geerts is quietly awaiting developments in Moerdijk. “I don’t want to anticipate the decision-making process. I would actually like to offer people in Moerdijk an alternative to give them peace of mind.”
Camping Fort Oranje
Camping Fort Oranje was a controversial campsite in Rijsbergen. Theft, violence, drugs, prostitution and fire were commonplace for years. At the time, Mayor Poppe called the site ‘a criminal residential area where people live in appalling conditions’.
The municipality seized the campsite in 2017 and took over management from the former owners, father and son Cees and Jan Engel. The campsite was sold and acquired by the municipality of Zundert itself for more than 6.5 million euros.
You can read all the stories about it here the disappearance of the village of Moerdijk.