It is high time for a robust, national approach to fireworks nuisance during the New Year, says Mayor Renze Bergsma of Coevorden. “Our fireworks tradition has gone off the rails. There were far too many heavy and dangerous fireworks again this year.”
The mayor therefore advocates a new approach, as he announced in his New Year’s speech on Monday evening. According to him, more, heavier and more dangerous fireworks are set off in his municipality every New Year. “Not only during New Year’s Eve, but also in the weeks before. That does not make the holidays festive for everyone. For some it even becomes frightening.”
According to him, there was also a lot of unrest in Coevorden this New Year, due to various street and car fires. “There were small disturbances and there was even a shooting incident. Unacceptable of course,” Bergsma said. A car containing fireworks completely burned out on Giffenstraat. A minor was injured in a shooting on Jozef Israëlstraat.
As far as the mayor is concerned, it is therefore time for a different course. In his speech he did not explicitly mention a local fireworks ban in his municipality, but emphasized that a national approach is needed. “Traditions are beautiful, and they remain beautiful if they adapt to the test of time. And that is less and less the case with the current way of celebrating. We have to return to the essence of the tradition: meeting and especially festive. We must move towards a New Year’s Eve with less inconvenience and fewer safety risks.”
Bergsma concluded his speech on this subject by expressing the wish that politicians in The Hague would take up this challenge. “I hope that national politicians will take their responsibility and take the initiative for a national approach. I am sure that many in the country, including many mayors, are prepared to cooperate in this.”
During his speech, Bergsma also expressed great appreciation for the emergency services who worked during the New Year. He also mentioned several highlights from 2024 in the municipality of Coevorden, such as the music theater spectacle De Vlinderprinses in Zweeloo, the start of the SIMAC ladies tour in Coevorden, the delivery of the new flex housing at the Obbo Bumahof in Coevorden and the centenary of the ice skating association Voorsprong in Sleen.
Towards The Hague, Bergsma had one last afterburner: “The Lower Saxony Line (train connection between Groningen and Enschede, via Stadskanaal, Emmen and Coevorden, ed.), it simply has to come, and it will come. The importance of this rail connection is appealing. No one is in doubt anymore. It just takes The Hague some time and effort to fit this investment properly into the budget.”