The VVD in Hoogeveen wants the municipality to work on the vacant land next to football club De Weide. “It is a unique opportunity to develop something beautiful,” says group chairman Ronald Klok.
He and his party have therefore sent questions with that request to the Hoogeveen council. According to the VVD, it is crazy that the field is still empty and hopes that the municipality will come up with a plan for the area.
Whether that will happen remains to be seen, the faction expects answers to the questions within a few weeks. In any case, the municipality is not the owner of the land, as appears from data from the land registry. So the question is what is possible.
If it were up to Klok, space would be looked at for sports clubs or housing. “During the municipal elections, we put an orange house on the site as a joke. The housing shortage is acute and you can do something about it with this spacious spot.”
He also thinks the site could provide space for other sports, such as baseball. The municipality would then have to talk to the owner of the land before that happens. “It would be a shame if it remained empty, hopefully the municipality can do something or enter into discussions with the owner of the site,” said Klok.
In December, the VVD also asked questions about the expansion of the Schutlanden sports park in De Weide. Football club De Weide and racket club De Weide are located there. The group wanted to know what was possible on the site.
The racket club itself also came up with a plan for expansion of the park. They had ideas for additional padel courts and a racket hall. It was also inquired whether hockey club HHC wanted to move from the Bentinckspark to the Schutlanden. However, the club saw no point in that. A new entrance and parking lot towards the sports park were also mentioned.
In January, the municipality responded to these questions from the VVD and the racket club’s plan. Hoogeveen said he sees no reason to redesign the park. Particularly because the hockey club did not want to move and the racket club had already built padel courts and therefore opted for renovation on its own grounds.
A new roundabout and parking lot would not be necessary according to Hoogeveen. Research by the municipality would show that access to the sports park is safe enough.
The VVD does not leave it at that and asks in a new response to take another look at road safety at the entrance of vv De Weide along Jos van Aalderenlaan. “It is very important that access to the sports park is safe for both visitors and local residents.”
The council will respond to the questions shortly.