Prior to the foreclosure auction, the municipality of Emmen made a bid for the location where homeless people with psychological or addiction problems will be accommodated in the future. Alderman Dewy Leal made this known on Wednesday evening during a committee meeting.
She answered questions posed by party member Marcel Meijer of the VVD. The municipality of Emmen announced last month that it had bought a house with surrounding land on Schietbaanweg. The idea is to place eight residential units at this location where so-called ‘birds of paradise’ are housed. It concerns a house where an underground cannabis nursery was rolled up a year and a half ago.
In nearby Westenesch, there was commotion among residents who also wanted to buy the property. They feel that the council snatched the house from their noses, because they were told to wait for the impending auction.
According to Leal, the municipality made a bid in advance of the auction. “Anyone can make an unconditional offer two weeks prior to a foreclosure auction. We made use of that. Our offer was accepted. All steps that have been public,” said the alderman. Only the preliminary relief judge has yet to consider the sale. Leal cannot yet indicate when that decision will be made.
The municipality also maintains regular contact with residents of the Westenesch district and the De Ark caravan centre. Both become the ‘neighbors’ of the new neighbourhood. Last week two more information meetings for local residents took place. During both moments, residents strongly criticized the way of communicating and the approach of the municipality with regard to the choice of location.