It is not yet known whether Matthijs Stevens will be allowed to exploit the Dutch parks of Peter Gillis’ Oostappen Group. The agency investigating his integrity needs more time to do this. An expert previously questioned the construction, because Stevens and Gillis are known to each other.
Stevens wants to exploit Peter Gillis’ Dutch parks, Omroep Brabant discovered in April. In the new situation, Gillis would remain the owner of the land, on which Stevens must pay rent.
Why is Gillis leaving?
The construction was devised because several municipalities have decided to request an operating permit from entrepreneurs who run a holiday park. To obtain such a permit, a so-called Bibob investigation first takes place. This checks whether the entrepreneur submitting the application has no ties with criminals or whether there are other risks in the field of integrity.
The municipality of Asten was the first to have such a study conducted. This showed that there is a risk that Gillis will use its holiday parks for criminal activities and the permit was therefore not granted. Gillis then drew his conclusion: if other municipalities also require a Bibob test (and more and more are doing so), it is over for him in the Netherlands.
He moved his activities to Belgium, where he runs three parks. He changed the name Oostappen Group to Topcampings and a new operator was sought for the Netherlands.
The new operator
So that became Matthijs Stevens. He knows Peter Gillis as an employee of the law firm that assisted him in the case against his ex Nicol Kremers.
According to public administration expert Albertjan Tollenaar, this could be a problem with the Bibob test. Not only because the two know each other, also because the land remains Gillis’s. “This is very remarkable, the suggestion is: Gillis is still pulling the strings,” Tollenaar said earlier.
Stevens and Gillis saw no problems themselves and continued with their plans. Stevens has applied for an operating permit in three municipalities (Asten, Valkenswaard and Terneuzen in Zeeland). Applications for the other Dutch parks will follow later, if the Bibob test is successfully completed this time.
Need more time
However, we still have to wait a while for the outcome. Bureau Bibob previously announced that it would be ready on December 9, but that date has now been postponed by two months. “The reason for this is that it takes more time to conduct an assessment before issuing a full recommendation,” the agency informed one of the municipalities.
It is not clear why more time is needed. The postponement would also have been reported to the applicant Matthijs Stevens, but he does not appear to be aware of it. “No idea what made you understand that?” he says when we ask about the postponement. The investigation should be completed by early February. Then we will hopefully know how the parks will proceed.
We previously made this video about the parks of Gillis: