With the exception of the Progressive Agreement Coevorden party, a concerned council and council of Coevorden are turning against the cabinet when it comes to the nitrogen plans.
The CDA submitted a motion to that effect, together with BBC2014, VVD and PPC. The parties call on the municipality of Coevorden to urge the minister and the province of Drenthe within two weeks for a revision of the nature conservation law and an area-oriented approach.
Five municipalities in Drenthe have already spoken out
Earlier, five municipalities in Drenthe (Midden-Drenthe, Aa en Hunze, Borger-Odoorn, De Wolden and Westerveld) had already opposed the cabinet’s nitrogen plans. They are affiliated with P10, an organization that represents the interests of thirty rural municipalities in the Netherlands.
‘Gas between the House of Representatives and the real human world’
“We are addressing alderman Jeroen Huizing, but if this nitrogen policy becomes a reality, it will affect many portfolios,” begins councilor and farmer Eddy Heeling of the CDA. “It is unimaginable if two out of three farms would stop. Not only farms, but also veterinarians, suppliers, you name it. The clearing will be enormous and that will not penetrate The Hague. There is a huge gap between the House of Representatives and the real human world.”
“The agricultural sector cannot do anything with such plans,” he continues ardently. “The government must be there to serve and protect people, not to force them into such a hopeless situation. The farmer standing in front of you now is not a wappie or populist.”
Heeling: “We want to be part of the solution, but then we have to be given that chance. On Vlieland, 95 percent nitrogen has to be reduced, while there are no livestock there at all. That shows how the government came up with such a map. “
‘This file controls your life’
A few seats away is another farmer: Bert Albring of the VVD. He also tells his story emotionally to the audience: “Anger, anxiety, sadness, insecurity, especially the latter comes up. This file currently controls your life. It is not only our company, it is our private life, it is everything to us” , Albring says, in a trembling voice.
“The agricultural sector is working very hard on biodiversity, but also on animal welfare and you name it. These two or three percent of the population ensures that the other 97 or 98 percent do not have to worry about whether food is on the table tonight coming.”
Worried about the earth
Opposition party Progressive Agreement Coevorden (PAC) is just as concerned as the two farmers, but about the future of the earth: “We are on the eve of an ecological disaster that threatens all life on earth, not just that of farmers. in the outlying areas,” says PAC councilor Paulien Blaauwgeers.
“PAC does not want the nitrogen precipitation reduction to be delayed any longer by consultations and discussion sessions. Farmers deserve our respect and appreciation and they also deserve not to be kept on a leash any longer in an attempt to stop the inevitable,” she argues. her point of view. “The plaster has to come off in one go now.”
“PAC has a great deal of understanding for all concerns that exist in the agricultural sector. The Municipal Executive should indeed recognize these concerns. The appropriate response that the Municipality must give to this, as far as PAC is concerned, must be in the sphere of supporting residents who have to bear great financial and emotional burdens as a result of thirty years of mismanagement by our national government. The PAC is voting against this motion.”
Alderman stands next to the farmers
Alderman Jeroen Huizing (CDA) shares the concerns of the farmers: “With the letter from the cabinet, a new low has been reached in the concerns and unrest not only among farmers’ families, but everywhere in our municipality. It is about the quality of life in our countryside. I have known Messrs Heeling and Albring for some time as sober gentlemen, but I also notice here what it does to farmers.”
“It is absolutely not the way you would like to treat each other. There is no contradiction between agriculture and nature. We know that something has to be done with nitrogen reduction. It is not about whether we want more biodiversity or more nature. That’s what we want. It’s about doing that together with the agricultural sector. Farmers can play a role in nature development.”
The alderman wants to discuss this file with a number of farmers in the short term, including Heeling and Albring and also the LTO: “We want to show that we stand next to the farmers.”