The parking lot on the Schapenveenweg is regularly the scene of drug trafficking, waste dumping and racing cars. The municipality of Emmen will therefore look into whether the site can be permanently closed after King’s Day.
This became clear after the VVD asked questions about this during today’s council meeting. According to party leader Patrick de Jonge, he has received several complaints about such matters that occur there. Why can’t the parking lot be locked, he asked the council. It no longer has a function in itself.
Councilor Jan Bos announced that the site has now been designated as a hotspot. This means that extra effort is being made on supervision and enforcement. The councilor wants to keep the parking lot open until King’s Day. It will then be examined whether it can be permanently locked.
Last year it was announced that the municipality would close the car park with 1,000 spaces in 2025. The Schapenveenweg location was constructed in 2016 to provide sufficient parking spaces for Wildlands visitors at peak times.
However, the so-called ‘overflow location’ was hardly used, resulting in income lagging behind the costs of, among other things, lease, management and maintenance. This costs the municipality an amount of between four and five thousand euros annually.