When will more than twenty years of dull misery come to an end? A group of residents in the Emmer district of Emmerhout would like an answer to that question. For years, the neighborhood has been suffering from the nuisance caused by two buildings where rooms are rented.
Dealing, drinking, prostitution, violence. Residents are sick of it. To their great annoyance, the situation has not changed, despite the fact that the municipality has raised the alarm several times. The residents therefore want the municipality to put an end to renting out rooms at the two locations.
32 comments were received against a recently issued permit for rental at one of these two homes. Half of the applicants reported to the Emmen town hall on Wednesday evening. During a session of the independent objections committee, she explained their irritations: the nuisance, the unsafe feeling and the associated unrest.
According to one of the petitioners, the problem started 23 years ago. One of the buildings ended up in the hands of a private landlord. Alcohol and drug abuse and all the associated misery started then. This landlord eventually moved to the Husingecamp.
That house was in the news in 2016 as a drug house. The nuisance was so bad that a vigilante group was eventually set up by local residents. The building eventually caught fire and was closed shortly afterwards by order of the municipality.
The problems did not disappear when the building was closed. It changed hands, and the problems doubled. The adjacent house also became a rental property that attracted the same crowd. “The empty liquor bottles were everywhere,” says one of the local residents. “If you lost your bike, it was best to look there. Because that’s where it was.”
A neighbor speaks of a sad day. “We shouldn’t be here. There should just be a big ban on renting rooms in those places. Enough is enough.” The permit was recently extended, after it seemed earlier this year that this would eventually go ahead. “But then a permit was still issued. A slap in the face. And again years of misery for us. Emmen should no longer hide behind shaky policy.”
The spokesperson for the Emmer council indicated during the hearing that the municipality felt for a long time that it could not really do much. “We were under the assumption that there was no permit requirement in this situation.” After all, in a permit-free situation, enforcement cannot take place. In that case, you have to rely on the police.
But someone within the town hall took a hard look at the matter and guess what? “There is indeed a permit requirement. With that fact, the municipality has tools to take action,” said the spokesperson.
For one of the two properties this means that the rental is illegal. The tenant must therefore leave there. It is different for the other building. A permit has been issued for this. But now students live there. It was anything but reassuring to local residents. “What if student housing stops? Then it starts all over again,” fumed one woman. According to the municipal spokesperson, action could be taken in this case.
The objectors were not satisfied. First see, then believe. After almost 25 years, distrust is well ingrained. A lady calls student housing a waste. “Once those are gone, everything is back to square one.” A man doesn’t believe it helps either. But residents will continue to raise the alarm as long as necessary, he says. “You won’t get anywhere by doing nothing,” he sighs.
The objections committee expects to provide advice to the council within a month. In most cases, the council follows the committee’s advice.