In the first episode of Water out, asphalt in writer Ed van Tellingen takes us back to 1970 when the municipal council of Meppel came up with the first damping and asphalting plans, whereby the Bleekerseiland in the center of the city would become a large parking lot.
Thanks to fierce resistance from, among others, architect Piet de Groot and the Massier brothers, owners of Bleekerseiland, and intervention from the province, the plans were ultimately stopped.
For centuries, water has determined the character of two places in Drenthe. Hoogeveen and Meppel would not have existed without their canals and canals and the activity that shipping and trade entail. But after the Second World War they got municipal authorities that opted for economic development. Canals and canals are only difficult for freight traffic, buses and cars. It was 1971 when the last canals in Hoogeveen were filled in without a fight. The asphalting drive is also taking hold in Meppel and large-scale damping plans are in place.
But everything happens differently there, and a fierce battle ensues between activists and the municipal council to keep the canals open. In the four-part documentary series Water out, asphalt in we look back on that turbulent post-war period, and what the water means and has meant for both places. The series will be broadcast on February 5, 12, 19 and 26 at 5:18 PM after Drenthe Nu.
