The municipality of Zandvoort does not think that the parking chaos in the seaside resort yesterday was a direct result of the changed parking policy. Since 1 July, bathers and day trippers have been allowed to park in paid parking in the neighborhoods where previously only permit holders were allowed. “But the problem was mainly antisocial behaviour,” says alderman Martijn Hendriks. “And you will with Every parking policy has less sociable people who crash their car in the middle of the curb. “
According to polls in the survey NH-Package Meter van NH Nieuws has been doing since the introduction of the changing parking policy, some residents are yesterday took up to half an hour to find a parking space. And they are still hindered today. “If I want to leave later, I have to walk to my car for twenty minutes,” says Dennis Tesselaar. He lives nearby just behind the boulevard, which was full of cans last night. Also on the sidewalk. “If there was a house on fire behind me, the fire truck just couldn’t get past it.”
Local resident Raymond saw a car in front of his and his neighbor’s driveways, where the letters NP make it clear that it is not a parking space. Their cars just managed to get around the driveway, so enforcement did not want to have the car towed away.
The annoyance was already deep with Raymond, also because he saw cars driving around in the street from early in the morning. “And then you get behavior of driving against traffic, at high speeds.”
Alderman Hendriks thinks he can’t do much about antisocial parking behaviour. Zandvoort will let you know when the large parking lots are full by means of signs at the beginning of the village. “But people who want to go to the beach after an hour’s drive no longer turn around.” Enforcement is then the only option. But yesterday they had their hands full, including maintaining order on the nine-kilometer-long beach of Zandvoort.
Signals for evaluation
The fact that residents cannot find a place in their own crowded residential streets due to the new parking policy, and therefore have to walk a lot further, is recognized by Hendriks as a potential consequence. “That could be an element of the new parking policy, those are the signals that we will include in the evaluation in October.” He has yet to say how he intends to do this. A first evaluation will only be discussed by the city council after the summer recess.