The notice of objection from Cultuurcentrum De Nieuwe Kolk (DNK) against the placement of a Moluccan artwork must still be dealt with in terms of content. The Northern Netherlands court has determined that.
The municipality of Assen had previously declared the objection inadmissible because it had been submitted one day late, but the judge ruled that DNK was not fully responsible for this and that the municipality should have dealt with the objection.
The business revolves around a work of art that depicts the Moluccan story in the Netherlands. The sculpture group, consisting of three figures of Cortenstaal, would be placed on the stairs of DNK in Assen. The municipality of Assen had granted an environmental permit for this, but DNK objected. The DNK management found the stairs an unsuitable location, among other things due to crowds during events such as the TT Festival.
The municipality rejected the objection without substantive treatment, because it was submitted one day after the official term. DNK fought this decision to the court, which now rules that the municipality has wrongly declared the objection inadmissible.
The court ruled that DNK was not fully responsible for the term exceedance. In its publication on the permit, the municipality had not clearly stated when the objection period started exactly. In addition, officials from the municipality had informed DNK that the term ran from the publication date, so that DNK was misled.
Moreover, because the exceedance only concerned one day and other parties had also objected, the court considered the term exceedance.
The municipality of Assen must now still deal with DNK’s objection. She has 12 weeks for this. This means that the location of the artwork is being looked back at, and whether placement on the stairs of DNK is really desirable.
The statement does not immediately mean that the artwork will be stopped, but that DNK’s arguments must now be taken seriously in the decision. The Moluccan working group that initiated the artwork had stopped production because of the uncertainty around the location.