The majority of the Aa en Hunze municipal council finds it ‘unnegotiable that agricultural entrepreneurs, based on the results of models, should be obliged to stop or relocate’. That was decided by the council in a motion.
In concrete terms, this means that the majority of the council opposes measures taken against farmers. The consenting factions CDA, VVD and Municipal Interests believe that local measurements should first be taken in nature reserves. According to current plans, farmers in large parts of the municipality of Aa en Hunze should stop because of the proximity of (nitrogen-sensitive) nature.
“Our farmers are the Formula 1 drivers of the world,” said Henriëtte Rossingh (VVD), who submitted the motion. Her statement was not a reference to the nitrogen emissions of those racers, but to the speed at which the sector has always innovated. According to Rossingh, the nitrogen plans are not fair because local farmers are now the victims of the nature they have helped to create over the past twenty years. “These nitrogen targets are unattainable and I think they are unjust.”
In the motion, the College of Mayor and Aldermen is instructed to convey the concerns within two weeks to the Provincial Executive of the province of Drenthe, the Ministry of Nature and Nitrogen and the Ministry of Agriculture and to the entire House of Representatives.
Criticism: premature
Not all factions could agree. Arie Fonk (D66) called the motion “premature, because the ball is with the province.” Frits Klein Langenhorst (PvdA) also thought it was “ahead of things”. According to Jannie Schonewille (GroenLinks), individual farmers cannot do anything about the situation, because “politics has failed.” On the other hand, she did not want to adopt the motion because the problem must be solved. “Our nature is declining, our biodiversity is being affected, the number of insects is decreasing.”
Alderman Ivo Berghuis (Municipality Interests) calls the matter complex. “I can assure you: when we saw the map with all the green areas (nature areas with stricter nitrogen rules, ed.) that descend in Aa and Hunze, we were also shocked. It will have a big impact. Not only on farmers, but also on recreation and events.”