The municipality of Midden-Drenthe has rightly pressured Alex Lybaart from Drijber with a penalty of thousands of euros to remove his caravan from Het Binnenveld in Drijber. The Council of State thinks so.
Today it was announced that Lybaart has lost his case against the municipality. The caravan was Lybaart’s only residence in Drijber. His sleeping place on wheels was in the garden of his farm, which was demolished in 2012. The municipality allowed him to build temporary accommodation until his new farm was ready, but that did not happen.
In 2018, the municipality noted that not a single stone had been laid in six years. Lybaart had to remove his then chalet from the property he owns. Two shipping containers containing his belongings also had to be removed.
In 2020 he set up a caravan on his land. “You have to live somewhere,” he said on November 29 during the court hearing at the Council of State. Midden-Drenthe responded with a penalty of 2,000 euros per week. This could amount to 12,000 euros. Lybaart chose his own money and removed the caravan on time. Since then he has lived on the Binnenveld in Drijber alternately in a small tent and in his car.
“I live in inhuman conditions,” the man told the Council of State in November where he challenged the penalty. Although he lost his case against the municipality, Midden-Drenthe is prepared to accommodate Lybaart. He can get permission for a temporary housing unit. Then he must have built a new farm within two years.