Yesterday at 7:30 PM • Modified yesterday at 8:59 PM
On a somewhat cloudy, yet warm Sunday afternoon, you wouldn’t know that the residents of the Haagdijk in Breda normally experience a lot of nuisance from speeders, homeless people and addicts. There is one big party during the first edition of the neighborhood festival. Yet things do go wrong with some regularity, as Areke van Tuijl, who lives in the street, also sees. And that is exactly why she organized the festival.
Areke no longer remembers how often she has been bothered by some homeless people. “I called on average four or five times a week because there was a nuisance. There was a group of twelve people in this area, two of whom were dealers. You could just see the syringes lying on the street.”
It did not stop at nuisance on the street, the stairwell of a nearby apartment complex was also affected. “They were just sitting there defecating. Things really got out of hand,” says the initiator.
“That meant more supervision and extra enforcement on the street.”
She felt that she could not sit still and raised the problems with the municipality. “We ended up on a list of ten locations in Breda where the most nuisance is experienced. This meant more supervision and extra enforcement on the street. That already seems to be paying off.”
The festival, which is paid for by the municipality, should also contribute to a better atmosphere in the neighborhood. “We want to bring the neighborhood together and ensure that people get to know each other better,” she says.
“Every now and then you hear quads tearing through the street.”
Most other local residents also see that things are slowly improving. “Every now and then you hear some motorcycles or quads speeding through the street, but nothing more,” says a student who has lived in the street since October.
A little further on, an older man is visibly enjoying all the fun around him. He has lived on the Haagdijk all his life and recognizes the stories of nuisance. “That often has to do with drug addicts or homeless people. They even slept in the stairwells. That is very annoying.”
“They should be a little stricter about it.”
At a stall where free Moroccan delicacies are distributed, a father and son are tasting. They also recognize the nuisance. “They should be a little stricter about it, even though those people have nowhere to go.”
They quite like living in the neighborhood, although they do sometimes have to deal with nuisance. “I often play football in the neighborhood,” says the young son. “The junkies are annoying. They come up to me when I’m walking somewhere and ask for money or tell me to get something for them at the store. That’s not nice.”
There will be no nuisance during the pleasant festival. Hundreds of people from the neighborhood enjoy a snack, a drink and a good time together. Areke proudly talks about a successful first edition of the festival: “We are taking over the neighborhood for good.”
