A hotel for 400 migrant workers will be built in the rural area of Liempde. The Boxtel City Council took that decision on Friday. Despite objections from the neighboring hamlet of Vrilkhoven and an advice from the objections committee to withdraw the permit. “We are dumbfounded. We did not expect this,” responds Marly van Leeuwen on behalf of the hundred residents of the hamlet.
The permit for a migrant worker residence on the site on the Oude Rijksweg in Liempde has been in place for some time. In August, an independent objections committee advised B and W to revoke that permit because the interests of local residents had not been sufficiently taken into account.
The advice of such a committee is usually followed, but not now. B and W opted for independent advice from State Attorney Pels Rijcken. Because the second investigation showed that the council had acted correctly legally, the permit was not revoked.
Marly van Leeuwen: “Before the permit was granted, there was never any discussion with anyone involved. So our interests have never been discussed and we believe that this should be the case. We object and are proven right, but the municipality simply ignores it. We feel we are not being taken seriously.”
“We are going to be bothered by 400 new neighbors anyway.”
The initiator behind the migrant worker hotel is SBA Flex Uitzendgroep from Tilburg. The building is intended for 400 temporary workers, mainly from Central and Eastern Europe. Marly van Leeuwen: “We will certainly be bothered by 400 new neighbors, regardless of their background. The site seems quite large, but is equivalent to a few old chicken stables. So many people in such a small place, that can’t go well.”
Councilor Mariëlle van Alphen of the municipality of Boxtel: “We understand the concerns of the neighborhood. Nevertheless, we believe that the hotel complies with all strict rules and offers good housing with minimal inconvenience to the environment.” There are, among other things, rules for road safety, nuisance reduction and surveillance.
Four new two-storey buildings will be built on the site. There will also be approximately 250 parking spaces for cars and bicycles, laundry rooms and a sports field. “Precisely because you approach it on a large scale, you can offer many more facilities. The people who live there are less likely to get bored and therefore cause less nuisance.”
“You want to do well for all residents, but that is not always possible.”
If it is up to the municipality, there will be another conversation with local residents. Councilor Van Alphen: “Ideally you want to do well for all 33,000 residents. Unfortunately, that is not always possible. Hopefully we can talk about that.”
But Marly, who speaks on behalf of the hundred Vrilkhoven residents, thinks that is ‘mustard after the meal’. “It is very normal that the municipality wants that, but that station has really been passed.” The residents plan to go to the administrative court and they want to file summary proceedings.
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