School, education and village hall will come under one roof in Vledder, if it is up to the municipality of Westerveld. Villagers saw more in other plans, but according to the councilor these are not feasible. Mixed reactions are the result. “Some people think it’s terrible, others think it’s fantastic.”
Councilor Alfred Schoenmaker (DSW) calls the process that has been completed in Vledder ‘unique’. Villagers were allowed to vote on four packages of measures to improve the facilities in the village. Nearly 800 of the 1,100 households participated in the poll.
But the ‘unique participation process’ does not automatically mean that the plan with the most votes will be implemented. The most popular turned out to be the renovation of OBS de Hoekstee, a new sports hall and the village hall back in De Tippe.
But the mayor and aldermen opted instead for a brand new multifunctional accommodation (MFA). It will probably be located on the edge of the village, on the site of the current De Spronk sports hall.
The former village hall De Tippe is now a restaurant with rooms for theatre, billiards and bridge. It is located in the heart of the village on Lesturgeonplein and feels like a village hall to many villagers. “Residents preferred to keep De Tippe as a village hall and for the municipality to invest in it. This turned out to be unfeasible due to the ownership situation,” explains Alderman Schoenmaker. In the municipality’s plans, De Tippe can continue in its current form.
Schoenmaker said this last night at an information evening. This was in the neighboring village of Frederiksoord, because there was no suitable location in Vledder itself.
“It was quite a job for us to accept it,” says Christiaan Meyboom about the municipality’s choice. Meyboom is chairman of Dorpsbelang Vledder and was therefore already aware of the municipality’s choice. “There was first surprise, then outrage and then we started thinking in the right direction.”
He now takes the position that bringing together sports, education, the village hall and possibly also the library provides more cohesion. Another advantage is that fewer employees or volunteers are needed than in a plan where the facilities are not under one roof.
It will take time before all villagers embrace the plan, Meyboom concludes. “Some people think it’s terrible, others think it’s fantastic.” The positive voices can often be heard among young people, he says. “The plan covers the next fifty years and is also related to housing construction and traffic routes in the village.”
At the meeting, Meyboom noticed that many attendees were full of questions. “The problem is that people have come to feel that our vote was decisive. Many comments have been made about that.”
“We especially wanted to know: what is the village’s preference?” says Schoenmaker about the process. “We avoided that option 100 percent. If we had not had that participation and had chosen something ourselves, we would never have known whether it was possible at that other location. I actually think it is a shame, I would have awarded Vledder that preferred location.”
Nevertheless, he is proud and happy that after years the wish for a significant investment in Vledder is one step closer. “This really makes the village future-proof.” In total this amounts to almost 12 million euros. The city council will debate the proposal in January.
If the council agrees, the municipality and village will sit down to further develop the plans. “Working groups will be formed,” says Meyboom. “And we are going to see which activities will remain in De Tippe and which will be in the village hall.”
All plans must be implemented in five years. The first step in the renovation of the village will be tackling Lesturgeon Square next year. It is currently not easily accessible for disabled people and there are also gains to be made in terms of parking.