The municipality of Nuenen wants to house 200 asylum seekers in the next ten years on a vacant lot between the Pastoorsmast and the A270. This place was chosen after a reception location at Landgoed Gulbergen was canceled after objections from the city council. The intended location is close to the sports park of football club RKSV Nuenen.
The plan will be worked out in the near future, and there will also be a private information evening for local residents. The Pastoorsmast is located to the southeast of Nuenen, near a skate park and the football club. The Boschhoeve district, with homes built in 2012, is a five-minute walk away.
Residents in the area were notified of the plan by letter on Saturday. In 2017 there were even plans to accommodate refugees at the current intended location. That did not go down well with protesting local residents. They were afraid that their houses would lose value and they thought other locations were more suitable, also because there is already a caravan camp in the neighborhood.
Shortage of reception places
There is a shortage of shelter for refugees throughout the Netherlands, partly due to the war in Ukraine. The national government calls on all municipalities to provide additional shelters. If this is not possible voluntarily, the government wants to force municipalities.
In Brabant alone, the COA (Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers) needs 2,500 new reception places. “After the city council spoke out against Gulbergen, we went to see if there are locations in our municipality that are suitable for refugee reception,” the municipality writes on its site.
Then the site at the Pastoorsmast came out of the box, for a maximum period of ten years. After five years, the municipality wants to see whether the shelter will be maintained or not. “We are pleased that by offering this location we can contribute to the solution of this humanitarian crisis.”
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