The plans for two new-build homes in Zuidbroek are being shelved due to a monumental pedunculate oak. ‘The tree would not have survived that.’
In the newspaper? Well, I’d rather not. They just wanted to protect the beautiful old oak tree next to their house. Nothing more, nothing less. That is why two residents of Zuidbroek went to the Council of State on Friday.
Space for two homes
The Beatrix School used to be on the corner of Prinses Maximalaan and Vlaslaan, near the station in Zuidbroek. The pedunculate oak stood in the middle of the schoolyard. The primary school was demolished in 2006. The tree remained standing. The trunk is now one meter thick and the crown is about fourteen meters wide. The old oak is now on a list of monumental trees in the municipality.
In April, the municipality of Midden-Groningen published the plans for Zuidbroek. Where the primary school used to be there is now a lawn of about a thousand square meters. The municipality found there was room for the construction of two houses there.
‘Too close to that tree’
“But those houses would be built three meters from that tree,” says the neighbor. “The tree would not have survived that.” The two neighbors conducted a short survey in the neighborhood. It was clear: the neighbors wanted to keep the tree.
And the municipality? He wants that too, as became clear during the session of the Council of State in The Hague. The municipality admitted that the local resident was right in her objection. The judge will make a ruling in six weeks.