Always eye for reuse. How deputy Henk Brink left his mark on Drenthe

Don’t throw anything away until you’ve checked if you can use it again. That’s in the genes of farmers. The faeces of the cows are manure for the land. Straw is a residual product of grain, but you can make it comfortable for your animals in the stable and it can serve as insulation material. This is called the circular economy in modern language.

Henk Brink (64) is a farmer near Zwiggelte and was a deputy for twelve years. Now that a new provincial government is in the making, it is almost over. As a farewell interview, we ask him to drive us around the province and show us what he has done. The common thread quickly becomes apparent. Henk Brink sees opportunities everywhere to make something beautiful out of ‘old rubbish’.

Really get used to

We pick him up at the Northern Development Agency (NOM) in Groningen, where he just had a meeting with other directors. The latter, it seems. It all takes a lot of getting used to, it turns out. “Being a deputy, that is the best job there is.”

He therefore looks forward to saying goodbye. Soon there will be ‘nothing’ left: no more phone calls, many interesting contacts will disappear. He has to hand over all kinds of projects that he has to hand over to his successor as a provincial administrator.

He was on the tractor in the early spring of 2011 when the phone rang. The then VVD party leader Annemarie Pannekoek asked him if he wanted to apply for the office of deputy. There were about seven candidates, from whom Brink was chosen. A little shocked. “As a director of the agricultural organization LTO, I always had a lot of criticism of the province. I thought that at the provincial government they had the idea that they knew better. That is actually what has made the BBB big now. At the Provincial House, I did manage to turn this around somewhat.”

And the reception at the Provinciehuis was not too bad. “I received a warm welcome from the official staff. Jacques Tichelaar was then King’s Commissioner. I also had very good contact with him. Very sad that he had to leave. We have regular contact and will soon have another coffee.”

Lock gates

We arrive at the Noord-Willemskanaal, near Vries. A new lock was installed there in 2018. The material of the lock gates is special. The doors are made of fiberglass layers, foam parts and synthetic resin. This is also called composite. The material lasts longer than the traditionally used wood and is lighter, so less energy is needed to open and close the doors. For Brink a good example of what the chemical industry in Emmen has to offer.

We drive a bit further and arrive at the through cycle route between Assen and Groningen. In 2015, Brink and a few other drivers from Groningen and Tynaarlo rode tough speed pedelecs across the TT circuit to kick off this project. The highway for cyclists is not yet finished, but it is well on its way.

The approach goes from thick wood to sawing planks. Does the cycle route at Tynaarlo cross a busy motorway? Well, then we’re going to go through a tunnel under it, aren’t we? Brink no longer had the project in his portfolio when this issue came up, but PvdA member Cees Bijl did. “Wonderful how he arranged this. If you really want something, you have to go all the way.”

Is this characteristic of the liberal’s style of governance? Not that either. Consultation with the environment is important. “You can win a race, but if there is no one around you at the finish, it is a pyrrhic victory. Then you have actually lost.” But on the other hand: “If you really want something, you have to go for it. You have to put all your effort into it.”

63,196 solar panels

On to Groningen Airport Eelde. The airport evokes mixed feelings. Brink is proud of the developments around the airport, the companies that have settled there, and the 63,196 solar panels that have been placed on the empty space between the runways. And the repurposing of the building of the National Aviation School. Ten years ago it was still about to collapse, but now it has been restored with money from the province and transformed into a multi-company building and sold to the FB Oranjewoud foundation.

But then the airport itself… Its survival is and remains uncertain. “The state should show more responsibility,” Brink grumbles. “It is an important part of the infrastructure of the Northern Netherlands, money is needed to maintain it.”

He is disappointed in national politics, including the national VVD, and that means that he actually thinks the rise of the BBB is wonderful. “That’s what happens when, as a national politician, you don’t know what’s going on in the region,” he tweeted. The seventeen new members of the BBB form a nice reflection of Drenthe, with two young people aged 18 and 21 and a 76-year-old as the oldest.

Has he actually already become a member of the BBB? “No, I am still a member of the VVD. Still.” But he is not always happy with the attitude in some files of both party leader Mark Rutte and the national party. “Take the handling of the earthquake damage. It is up to that point that Mark Rutte made mistakes in this. That happens to all of us. But admit it and don’t beat around the bush.”

Roof of Drenthe

We drive onto the A28 to the literal and figurative highlight in Brink’s administrative career: the VAM mountain. It shows what you can still do with a mountain of waste. Just put a bike course over it. It wasn’t that simple, but Brink immediately noticed enthusiasm when the idea came to the surface.

“Drenthe wants to be the cycling province of the Netherlands and then you want to achieve something that others do not have.” With 20 million tons of household waste, the mountain has now become the ideal place for cyclists and runners to train climbing. We are on top of ‘the roof of Drenthe’. “Look,” Brink points. “You can oversee all of Drenthe. And there you see the wind turbines in Germany.”

There is still work to be done on the mountain. In addition to the current top, an increase from 48 to 63 meters is still being worked on. Then he still has to be finished for the European Cycling Championships, which will take place in Drenthe in September. The newly constructed part, the Dak van Drenthe, was a great showcase for winning that top sporting event.

We set course for Emmen and take a route through the interior. We are entering familiar territory for the outgoing deputy. He knows exactly how to tell which parcel of land belongs to whom. In Emmen we visit the old bus depot, which must be given a new destination. Now a bare, empty and somewhat dilapidated building, but in a few years this should be a hotbed of students, researchers and entrepreneurs. A part of Greenwise Campus where the business community can go with questions and research assignments. Students from MBO, HBO and WO will work together with entrepreneurs.

The project provides more knowledge in and around Emmen. And that is badly needed to keep the chemical industry in the area. This became apparent when blood bag producer Fresenius Kabi threatened to leave. Thanks to a series of negotiations, a subsidy of 2 million euros and the arrival of a business school, the company remains. The blood bag production now takes place in the Czech Republic and the Dominican Republic, in Emmen the company now makes special food for the medical world. “We did this because employment is so important in Emmer Compascuum.”

In addition to knowledge, accessibility is also important. This has been improved thanks to the partial duplication of the N34. Brink went out of his way to make this possible. This was successful between Emmen and Coevorden. However, Nelleke Vedelaar, who is now in charge of traffic and transport, reported that there is not nearly enough money to realize all the plans in the northern part, between De Punt and Coevorden. Isn’t that frustrating? “No,” says Brink. “It is a pity, but this is a realistic choice. We are now simply doing what we can achieve for the available 90 million. The new board can always decide to allocate more money.”

We set course for Hoogeveen. With the IT hub, this city already has a kind of campus such as that still to come on a larger scale in Emmen. Director Edwin Gels welcomes us in the brand new building near the railway station. Detail: Lamps made from old fluorescent tubes with LED lamps hang above the tables. Here too, reuse of old material. “Insurer TVM threatened to leave Hoogeveen with the argument that there were too few well-trained IT personnel here. So we have to do something about it.”

Just like in Emmen, the IT hub must function as a kind of beehive, where students of various backgrounds work together with entrepreneurs. Gels points to a coffee machine. “We are organizing a competition for students. It’s about devising a system to operate the machine with your voice. Then you shout ‘a coffee with sugar’ and then you get a cup. Handy for people with a visual impairment, for example.”

We drive north on the A28. “Terrible, terrible,” says Brink. He points west where large fields have been built over with solar panels. “That looks so ugly in the Drenthe landscape.” We stop at Beilen, where solar panels are placed on the water of a sand excavation. “So it can be done.” That energy transition must come, but put those solar panels out of sight. And not on farmland. He is proud of the open Drenthe landscape. For the past four years, he has championed this as a spatial planning portfolio holder.

The driver drives to Zwiggelte to bring Henk Brink home. Occasionally he still works on the farm. “Then I can change my suit for my overalls.”