The illegally landscaped tree garden Arboretum Arcadia in Gasselte does not have to relocate. The entire city council of Aa and Hunze finds it no problem that the garden is there, but the owner gets a small tap on the fingers.
Landscape architect Wiecher Huisman has been working on his dream garden in Gasselte since 2017, but did so without the permission of the municipality. The construction of his garden fell outside the rules that apply to its site.
Nevertheless, over the years he put thousands of trees and bushes in the ground. In the meantime, they have grown considerably and Huisman bought a adjacent field two years ago to expand the garden.
The Arboretum is now open to the public at set times, but Huisman is planning to make his garden accessible all year round. The parties think that is a great idea to stimulate tourism.
PvdA party leader Frits Klein Langenhorst actually thinks it is not possible that Huisman could just go his own way all those years. Yet he has no objections to legalizing the Arboretum.
The tree lover sleeps with some regularity in the house that is at the tree garden, but that too is against the rules. VVD-er Henriëtte Rossingh therefore wants to indicate that that is not entirely intended.
Now that the tree garden is officially legal, the owner can continue with his Arboretum. The intention is that the garden can be opened more often to visitors after the summer.