“The dredger comes up,” says Bart Hülters of the Breda caravan interests Foundation when he closes the door of the police station behind him. On Tuesday afternoon he and his wife Leonie and the well -known lawyer Peter Schouten reported discrimination against the municipality of Breda.
The caravan dwellers of a camp in the Haagse Beemden district feel seriously disadvantaged when expanding the number of locations for caravans.
Three hours the agent on duty was busy recording the declaration of Bart and Leonie. A long seat, but the couple is content with it. “I have a good feeling about it,” says Bart. “We are taken seriously by the police.”
Discrimination is therefore a crime. “Yes, that’s quite a bit,” says Leonie. “But Breda has not acted with integrity and we do something about it. We have always said that.”
“Among other things, it is said that they cannot read comprehensively. That they don’t understand it”
The couple has been fighting the municipality of Breda for a long time on a piece of land next to the camp in the Hague Beemden. The owner, one of the caravan dwellers, was not allowed to build additional locations through the zoning plan. He sold the land to the Alwel Housing Corporation and he can now create 24 social rental apartments. The zoning plan could be changed for them.
The caravan dwellers think discrimination. They conduct research into the state of affairs through the Woo (Open Government Act). The municipality of Breda does not like that and he contacts them. “In those conversations they are put under enormous pressure to stop,” says lawyer Peter Schouten, who helps Bart and Leonie. “Among other things, it is said that they cannot read comprehensively. That they don’t understand it.”
It goes one step further in a telephone conversation that Bart Hülters has with an official. Lawyer Schouten: “If Mr. Hülters asks why he is not allowed to live there, the answer is ‘because you are a caravan dweller’. That will also be repeated afterwards.”
After some coercion, the WOO documents nevertheless come into the possession of the caravan dwellers. The content of the internal emails makes the eyebrows frown. “It is discussed how difficult the caravan dwellers are,” continues Schouten. “And that that monkey is now of their shoulder.”
“Because everything is black, we have not yet been able to discover who says what. In fact, a report has been made against the college of mayor and aldermen and to the official in question. I am going to ask the municipality to view the documents unpacked. And otherwise the police will do so. I have now submitted nine proofs, but I still have two more fat folders with evidence.”
“They will have to do something, because the dredger comes up.”
In addition to discrimination, Bart and Leonie Hülters also reported fraud against the broker who was involved in Alwel when the land of the caravan dweller was involved in the sale of the land of the caravan dweller. “Bart and Leonie suspect that there has been a cunning artificial grip,” says Schouten. “The way in which this process has been invested to ensure that one party is sidelined and the other party gets a wonderful gift from the municipality, in my opinion something that may also play in many other municipalities in the Netherlands. And not only for caravan dwellers.”
Bart and Leonie Hülters prefer to see that the entire plan of housing corporation does not continue and that there will still be extra places for caravans. “We hope for a good investigation by the Public Prosecution Service and that it will tap the municipality,” says Leonie. “To get the plan of Alwel off the table, we go to the Council of State. Because we are fighting.”
“We certainly have hope,” Bart adds. “Although we have already called us to look at some extra places. And of course we are open to such a conversation. But of course they don’t do this just like that. They will have to do something, because the dredger comes up.”
