A majority of the council in the municipality of De Wolden agrees with the expansion of the Hoge Akkers business park in Ruinerwold. In total, about 6.5 hectares will be added.
There is no space available for new companies at the current location. Entrepreneurs have been asking for extra land for years, the last lot was sold in 2018. With the expansion, the municipality hopes that the area will again be future-proof and attractive for entrepreneurs.
The majority of the parties were positive about the proposal, although there were some points of criticism. In particular about the traffic situation around the neighboring hamlet of Bleidenstein. Residents fear that the expansion of the site will cause more traffic nuisance. Residents say they already see dangerous traffic situations on the road every day and hope that a structural solution will be found.
In 2021, a number of neighbors put the issue on the political agenda through a citizens’ initiative. The problems are now known to the municipality. It has been decided to vote first in favor of the extension of Hoge Akkers. Apart from that plan, the traffic problem is also being looked at. Residents want a southern approach route to be created, but that still needs to be looked at.
“We are positive about the plans,” said Tamara de Boer-Overbeek of the CDA. “However, the road past the church on Bleidenstein can barely cope with the current traffic. It therefore feels strange that we are now voting on the expansion of Hoge Akkers without tackling the traffic problem directly. Compare it to installing a toilet bowl which does not yet have a sewer pipe under it.”
GroenLinks did not like the plan and was the only party to vote against the expansion. A meeting with the neighborhood is planned next week to look at solutions together. The group says the decision comes too soon. “It feels strange, we agree to the expansion, but next week we will only speak to the people who experience nuisance. Shouldn’t that be done first?” Henk van IJzendoorn wondered aloud.
According to alderman Gerrie Hempen-Prent, the municipality also had plans to supplement the existing business park with an access road on the Haakswold road. “Part of the traffic coming from Hoge Akkers could have gone over Haakswold. But the connection is not there yet and that is why there has been more pressure on Kerkweg and Blikkenstein.”
The meeting with the residents of Bleidenstein is scheduled for next week. “Then we will talk to find the right solution together. I am very curious to see what will come out of it,” says Hempen-Prent.