Compared to the previous elections, the number of active parties in the coming elections has been reduced to five. Since these elections, PvdA and GroenLinks have run a joint list and the Christian Union was already merged with the CDA last year.
A hot topic that has occupied municipal politics in recent times and is also flaring up again during election times is the arrival of wind turbines near Ruinerwold. The majority of the municipal council gave permission to investigate this in 2024.
Gemeentebelangen does not indicate that it does not rule out the arrival of the wind turbines at Ruinerwold, but that it understands the concerns of residents. “We are well informed and take these signals seriously in order to ultimately make a well-considered decision,” the election manifesto states.
D66 is in favor of large wind turbines in the municipality if ‘after careful consideration’ it appears that they are the best option ‘to achieve objectives’. D66 believes that there must be an eye for support in the energy transition, that residents must be able to benefit and that new solar and wind projects must fit into the landscape.
CDA is also not against the research into the wind turbines at Ruinerwold, but sets the conditions that the impact on the environment and the benefits for residents must be clear. The party also wants attention to be paid to the possible effects, such as stray electricity. “First know, then choose,” the party writes in its program.
VVD and GroenLinks-PvdA are against large wind farms. GL-PvdA says it sees opportunities for small-scale wind turbines that fit into the landscape.
De Wolden has a high number of self-employed people, but is there enough business space in the municipality? A few years ago, the municipality already mapped out what entrepreneurs will need in the near future. This showed the lack of space on industrial estates. For example, the industrial estate in Ruinerwold was expanded and Ruinen will also gain additional space. The possibilities are still being explored in Koekange and Zuidwolde.
The VVD believes that the industrial estates may be expanded even further (if targeted). According to Gemeentebelangen, this expansion of industrial estates must be accompanied by the stimulation of local entrepreneurs in the village centres. The party wants to investigate what is needed to make and keep the centers more attractive.
According to GroenLinks-PvdA, the strength of the municipality lies in the landscape, not in ‘large industrial estates’. Economic development should strengthen the green character of the municipality, not undermine it, the party states in the election manifesto.
The party therefore wants to green the industrial estates and ‘appropriate activity’ in the municipality, such as services and creative and sustainable companies and no ‘anonymous distribution centers’. D66 believes that the industrial estates should primarily be for private entrepreneurs.
