“This is an emergency, stop the poaching and get to work.” This emotional appeal was made on Wednesday evening during an information meeting about the future of the village of Moerdijk. Dozens of Moerdijk residents were given the opportunity for the first time to talk to the responsible administrators, including Minister Sophie Hermans of climate and green growth.
Residents of Moerdijk were told last week that the decision on the possible disappearance of the village has been postponed by six months. The Province in particular finds ‘the pace’ at which the municipality has initiated the process ‘too high’. The minister now also wants more research to be done into the consequences before a final decision can be made. This means that residents will not know where they stand until June.
The minister said that she had come to Moerdijk to ‘listen’ to the residents. Hermans did not have any concrete commitments: “But I will commit myself to you with everything I have. That is useful and good because it is a major decision. We therefore owe it to you,” said the minister.
“The municipality wanted to take a step forward. That was not a mistake but courageous.”
The Moerdijk council reported on November 11 that in their view the village would eventually have to disappear to make way for new energy stations. When asked by the audience whether the municipality was not moving quickly, Sophie Hermans answered negatively. “It would have been nice if we could have provided clarity on December 1. The municipality wanted to take a step forward. That was not a mistake but courageous.”
“People are suffering mentally from this. It is underestimated.”
Provincial administrator Wilma Dirken emphasized the importance of more research. “In the past, a large industrial estate has sometimes been started and then lay fallow for a long time. We want to prevent that. We also want to see whether it is possible to phase the implementation. After all, it concerns a period of 25 years.”
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Tessa Engel from Moerdijk heard ‘nothing new’ at the information meeting. “We were not given enough time to ask our questions. I don’t have the feeling that we were heard. We will just hang around for the next six months. People are mentally affected by this. That is underestimated.”
“Providing people with security is therefore the most important thing I take away from this evening.”
Councilor Danny Dingemans called it ‘terrible’ that clarity cannot be provided until June. Minister Hermans also says that the impact of the uncertainty is ‘gigantic’. “Providing people with certainty is therefore the most important thing I take away from this evening, even if the consequences of this decision are less pleasant.”
The minister or her successor will attend residents’ meetings more often in the near future.
Here you can read all the stories about the disappearance of the village of Moerdijk