Drenthe mayors and also the King’s Commissioner are remarkably critical of the cabinet in their New Year’s speeches this year. The Hague is often under fire, but not always as fiercely as now. “If you notice that you are not getting a response, that is very disappointing and worrying.”
These are the words of Klaas Smid, mayor of Noordenveld and chairman of the Association of Drenthe Municipalities (VDG). He sometimes feels like a voice crying in the desert. “But we have to keep shouting. If you give up hope, you are already far from home.” According to Smid, the cabinet states that municipalities are desperately needed for all kinds of social tasks. “But translate that into good treatment of municipalities.”
In concrete terms, Smid points to the haggling over the possible construction of the Lely Line and the Lower Saxony Line, the possible repeal of the dispersal law and the financial concerns among municipalities for the so-called ravine year 2026. Municipalities fear major shortages from that year onwards. “We have also had all kinds of tasks transferred from the government for a long time, without appropriate financial resources.” Smid is referring, for example, to the responsibility for youth care.
“Governing does not become easier this way,” Smid said in his New Year’s speech. To that he adds a staff shortage. “Fortunately, our council appeared to be willing to invest in the organization and employees. This is desperately needed to keep our services for residents at a good level.”
Last night, King’s Commissioner Jetta Klijnsma mentioned the uncertainty surrounding PAS reporters. In short, these are farmers who only had to report when they expanded their business, but who, according to the Council of State, now have to have a nature permit for this. “It is time for this cabinet to make decisions so that we finally get solutions for PAS detectors.” Klijnsma also mentioned the uncertainty about the railway lines and housing construction.
Mayor Jan Zwiers of the municipality of Midden-Drenthe, in turn, says that The Hague is hardly approachable for problems. He even goes so far as to describe the cabinet’s attitude as disrespectful. “Certainly in the North, we feel too little respect for municipalities to enter into discussions with the government on an equal basis,” he said earlier this week.
According to Zwiers, if the cabinet wants something from the region, The Hague is quick to use Drenthe. He points to the defense plans to expand the De Haar training area in Assen in Central Drenthe. “Then people like to use the space in the North.”
Eric van Oosterhout, mayor of Emmen, is also fiercely critical of The Hague. “I have been working in local politics for about twenty years now, but I have never experienced anything like what is happening now,” he said on Friday evening. Van Oosterhout misses The Hague frameworks in the areas of social security, asylum, climate and agriculture. “There is also increasing uncertainty about what the government expects from municipalities.”
Moreover, Van Oosterhout criticizes The Hague’s position in the refugee debate. “In politics in The Hague, coldness and heartlessness apparently rest on a democratic majority.” It also took the Emmer mayor a lot of effort to get Minister Faber (PVV) of Asylum to Nieuw-Weerdinge, a village where there is a nuisance from safelanders from the registration center in Ter Apel. Contact between the municipality and Faber was and continues to be difficult.
Back to Klaas Smid as chairman of the VDG. He hopes that the cabinet will pay more attention to Drenthe this year, so that next year’s New Year’s speeches can be more moderate in tone. “I hope that we can then offer some more perspective. And hopefully we have received the resources for all tasks, because our residents deserve that.”