The Easter fire along Ericasestraat in Erica can continue as usual. That is what the Council of State ruled today. Local residents went to the highest administrative court because they are not happy with the fire. Earlier they tried it at the court in Groningen, but that was also unsuccessful.
The Council of State sees no unacceptable environmental and safety risks if the hump on Ericasestraat is set on fire on Easter Monday. The hump meets all the requirements set for it. For example, there is a minimum distance of fifty meters between the Easter fire and the nearest building, and at least two hundred meters between the Easter fire and a house with a thatched roof.
A resisting local resident who lives three hundred meters away is proved wrong because that is too long a distance to experience an unacceptable amount of nuisance. Furthermore, the fire appears to be easily accessible for the fire brigade and ambulance.
After a few days of waiting in suspense, the organization now says that a weight has been lifted from their shoulders. “You spend days preparing and then you have to wait every time, because you are not sure whether or not it can go ahead. Of course we are happy that it is now clear. The fire can go in,” says Jeroen Kamst.
The initiators take immediate action. After all, a lot still needs to be done. “We have already put up some signs so that people can find their way to the hump. In addition, the site also needs to be cleaned up, it is still quite muddy now. Then we get something to drink and we celebrate the good news. “
The organization had an exemption for the Easter fire from the municipality of Emmen. Local residents think that too much wood is used. The exemption allows a thousand cubic meters, but according to the group there is two thousand cubic meters. They then went to court, but the statement was not enough to cancel the event.
The local residents did not stop there; they therefore went directly to the Council of State. They did so on the basis of other points relating to environmental exemption. According to the group, nothing about wind direction was included in the exemption for the fire. They fear, in case of a wrong wind direction, for smoke nuisance in the adjacent Parc Sandur district.
They also think that solar panels could be damaged or animals could suffer from the fire. The objectors requested the Council of State to remove the Easter hump in the meadow of organizer Kamst and to take it to the environmental street.
But the Council of State did not agree. Only if it turns out that the bump is larger than a thousand cubic meters or if the wind picks up more strongly than force 5, the fire may not be lit in the bump on Ericasestraat. If this is ignored, the organization can expect a penalty of 10,000 euros.
One of the objectors says he regrets the decision. “But not much can be done about it now. It seems that the wind direction is favourable, so we hope not to experience much inconvenience later. It is just a pity that it had to come to this. If the municipality had said that the bump what should have been further inland, and not so close to our neighborhood, then this circus would not have been necessary.”