Tim is fed up. His Kiosk in the Tilburg Railway Park has been the target of criminals and nuisance young people for months. Wheel turners hang around the park drunk, are loud and intimidate the people in the business. The owner fears for the safety of his staff and that is why the cafeteria has been closed for a week now.
“I think you can call it terrorizing,” says Tim, who prefers not to be called by his last name. According to him, the park is a breeding ground for crime. Last year, a 14-year-old girl was attacked and an offender was arrested in the toilets behind his business.
Last summer, a Kiosk employee became involved in a conflict between two park visitors. “While she was at work, there was an argument and then someone fled into the business. She threatened to call the police. The situation then got quite out of hand,” says the owner.
“How can I guarantee safety if enforcement can’t already do that?”
After another confrontation between the Kiosk staff and the group of ringleaders, Tim had enough. He closed his business. “The enforcers said they cannot guarantee our safety. If they can’t, how can I?”
To make matters worse, the Kiosk was also broken into on Christmas Day. Apart from the tip jar of the staff, not much was taken, but the shutters were destroyed.
“Parents of employees do not want their child to work here at night.”
As a result, the tent will remain closed for the time being and the nine employees will be seated. Tim can understand if they start looking for another side job. “Of course I hope not, but we have already received messages from concerned parents who do not want their child to be here in the evening. I find that very annoying. We are open until nine o’clock in the evening. That is not night work. In such a park should be safe around that time.”
Tim has now had a conversation with the police and the management of the Spoorpark to find a solution. The owner of the park has already removed the picnic tables so that there is less hanging space and more lanterns are being installed.
“We are going to come up with a menu that will only allow us to open in the afternoon.”
Tim does not believe that the problems have disappeared with that. He is therefore thinking about shortening the opening hours. “We now sell fries, but we are going to come up with a sandwich menu so that we can only open in the afternoon from now on.”
He finds that very annoying for the guests who have the Kiosk as a regular snack bar and it also hurts the owner. “Only in this way can we at least stay open in a safe way.”
