Council of State draws line through new residential area at Schiphol

No new neighborhood with seven hundred homes may be built in the vicinity of Schiphol, the Council of State determined on Wednesday. Although there is a great need for new homes within the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, according to the administrative court, the municipality has “not properly substantiated” that there will be a “good living and living environment”. The noise from test-running and starting aircraft in particular could be a nuisance to residents. The municipality of Haarlemmermeer is disappointed. “The housing shortage is high. We felt we had done everything we could to be allowed to build,” said a spokesman for the municipality in an initial response.

There have been plans for ten years for the construction of the Schuilhoeve district, immediately north of Schiphol. The municipality acquired the land, which was used as sports fields, through expropriation and wanted to recoup part of the costs incurred for the diversion of the A9 motorway around Badhoevedorp with the construction. The municipality of Haarlemmermeer could not yet say in an initial response whether the neighborhood could possibly be built in a different, smaller form.

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KLM had lodged objections against the construction plans. Although the new homes would be extra well insulated, including with so-called ‘deaf facades’, these facilities are insufficient, according to KLM, to protect the residents, in particular from ground noise from aircraft.

Hotel does not help enough

Studies and follow-up studies by Royal Haskoning and the Netherlands Aerospace Center have previously shown that there is indeed sufficient protection against this noise. The Council of State disagrees, stating that some calculations were ‘not done correctly’, and also doubts whether some other measurement results are ‘representative’ for the entire new district. For example, part of the houses would be protected against noise by a hotel in the immediate vicinity, but another part would only be protected by a lower slope.

With its ruling, the Council of State has annulled various municipal decisions of Haarlemmermeer for the adoption of the new zoning plan.

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