More than thirty new pitches for caravans will be available within three years. The municipality of Alkmaar promises this in an explanation of the new caravan policy, which the residents’ committee of the so-called ‘travellers’ has agreed to. An additional location has also been found where these vehicles could possibly be parked: next to the current camp in the Overdie district.
It now seems to be happening: new pitches for caravans in Alkmaar. There is a serious shortage of this in the municipality and caravan residents are already becoming such 35 years of promise that there will be more places. That promise has still not been fulfilled, but major steps have been taken, the travelers say.
After a long wait, several protests and the occupation of chalets for Ukrainian refugees last July, the municipality and representatives of the travelers have buried the hatchet and a new caravan policy is ready. It states that there will be at least 31 additional places.
After the protest action at the chalets At the ‘t Lood sports complex, the municipality and travelers agreed that there would be a prospect of new pitches within a few years, and to achieve this, both parties would sit down together every eight weeks. That happened.
Family connection required
Agreements have been made, among other things, about how places will be allocated. Only travelers with family ties to the Alkmaar camps will soon have a chance of getting one of the 31 places that are currently needed according to calculations. This means that people with family at one of the current three Alkmaar caravan camps or those who descend from an Alkmaar camp are the first in line.
According to councilor Jasper Nieuwenhuizen, regulation is needed. “There is simply a scarcity.” This does mean that a large number of people who were previously on a list of location rental company Woonwaard will be dropped. That list contained more than a hundred applicants. “But that list never had any status,” says Nieuwenhuizen. “It was just an inventory.”
And it is still not clear where these new locations will be located. There were already five possible locations in the picture, and one more has now been added: Bestevaerstraat in Alkmaar.
In addition to the previously promised location in the Vroonermeer, it is about five ‘promising’ places in De Hoef, Oudorp, Overdie, Koedijk and Schermerhorn. Sixth, an extension of the existing camp on Bestevaerstraat has now been added.
“It is not yet possible to say how many places can be added there; it is a potentially large location,” said the councilor. “The adjacent school appears to require less space for its new building. We will decide on the locations within the council within three to four weeks.”
It seems a certainty that local residents will object to a new caravan site. “That could result in a delay of two years,” Nieuwenhuizen calculates. “But within our term of office, within three years, there will be new positions.”
“The residents of caravans are just as much our residents. And just like every Alkmaar resident, they have the right to a place to live.” According to the alderman, it is not an empty promise. “Nothing is certain, but the administrative will is there to make this happen.”
Sausage served
The travelers’ residents’ committee helped shape the new caravan and allocation policy. They believe in a happy ending. “Of course we have been presented with a sausage for a long time, but we have never come as far as we have now,” says Cheryl van der Veen. “We have taken a lot of steps in the right direction.”
Tjerk Vermanen also agrees: “It would be strange if the municipality were to fool itself. They have invested so much time in it, we have never seen that in all these years. The trust started with the previous councilor and that has only grown.”
The municipal council will decide on the new caravan policy at the end of November.