The municipality of Assen has to put 3 million euros on the table for the tunnel ice rink at Assen-Zuid. ASSEN Central, VVD, D66 and Stadspartij Plop want that. These parties are also willing to finance additional costs for the construction of the ice rink, which are around 1 million euros. And there seems to be a majority for that.
According to party leader Jan Talens van Assen Centraal ‘, it is now an excellent opportunity to make the ice rink possible in Assen’, after the Provincial States decided yesterday to withdraw 2.5 million euros.
Partly on behalf of the other parties, Talens just submitted the motion in the municipal meeting. Later in the day it is voted on it. But the SP, which has one seat, will agree. “I can hardly do it differently, because the SP has partly ensured that 2.5 million comes from the Provincial States,” says party chairman Jannie Drenthe.
Last summer, the Asser City Council unanimously adopted a motion, in which they say that the mayor and aldermen ‘Municipal Executive must’ make a maximum effort to achieve the tunnel ice rink ‘. Sports alderman Albert Smit (Assen Central) then called the motion ‘a great support’ for his efforts, because he also wants that ice rink.
Assen believes it is very important that in the area at the TT Circuit, the so -called Tourist Recreational Zone (TRZ), something is finally getting off the ground. The tunnel ice rink at that location is seen as an important driver for more developments in the area, which is still almost empty.
According to Talens, five years ago, 4 million euros was transferred to a special reserve investment fund for the TRZ. Intended for area development in the future, as support as soon as there were concrete plans. It is about the ‘old ice rink jar’ that Assen had built, when the city was still in the race for a new ice cream complex in Drenthe. Hoogeveen then finally won ice rink plans, with 5 million in provincial money. That plan then failed.
Assen Centraal believes that this money can now be used as financial support for the tunnel ice rink. According to the Rotterdam developer A Nice Group, this must cost a total of 8.5 million euros. Together with VVD, Stadspartij Plop and D66, the parties also add a little extra. In addition to the 3 million, they are also willing to support the additional costs related to the construction. That concerns 750,000 euros to 1 million.
Together, the four parties who submitted the motion are good for 16 seats, but with the SP there are already 17 votes. And that is a majority. Whether the ChristenUnie, coalition fellow from Assen Centraal, Plop, VVD and SP will also come along, is still the question. Bouke Weeening of the CU is missing the emphatic condition, which is stated at the province, namely that it is a one -off amount. “To prevent us from being held responsible for shortages in exploitation. I am positive in itself. But why is that condition not in it? Then I would be something else,” says Weening.
Later in the day, the Asser parties will definitely vote on the proposal.