Echt-Susteren is the first municipality in Limburg where the new coalition has been finalized. The coalition agreement and the five aldermen were presented on Friday.
There are also two new female aldermen.
Finish up
The fact that Echt-Susteren has the Limburg coalition first is, according to formateur Jeroen Meulenberg, because the parties of the incumbent coalition had the strong will to continue together. “They wanted to finish the job together and implement the ambitious agenda that had been set. That has speeded up the formation very much,” said Meulenberg.
D66
The renewed coalition again consists of Party New Echt-Susteren (PNES), CDA, and Democrats Echt-Susteren (DES) and GroenLinks. Newcomer D66 has, however, also joined.
GroenLinks and D66 do not supply aldermen, but are involved in drawing up the coalition agreement. Together, the five parties account for 17 of the 23 seats in the city council. List Cooperation is the only party with 6 seats in the opposition.
Also read: Echt-Susteren is heading for the same coalition
young and women
The two new female aldermen are Kim Leurs (PNES) and Inge Minkenberg (DES). The CDA aldermen Peter Pustjens and Geert Frische and Hub Meuwissen from PNES will be returning to the new council. Kim Leurs (32) replaces PNES figurehead Peter Ruijten, who recently decided not to return.
“We had a lot of young people on the list. They scored well, but just not enough to get on the council. That is why rejuvenation through the college was the only way. Moreover, we wanted a woman on the team,” says formateur Meulenberg, who is also party chairman of PNES and was the party leader in the elections.
Vibrance
According to him, there are a number of spearheads for the coming years. First of all, the Real Center Plan, which should ensure a considerably smaller but more lively and compact center with a Jumbo Food Market. Although the Council of State has yet to give the green light for the Food Market on the site of the former roof tile factory De Valk.
“The construction of 500 homes is also a priority, 150 of which are in Susteren in the Middelveld III plan. And we try to bind young people more to the municipality by increasing the liveliness,” says Meulenberg. This should be done, among other things, by making more larger events possible and by creating a culture and entertainment center on the Plats.
The new aldermen will be installed at a council meeting next Thursday.
Seats
In the elections, PNES became the largest party in Echt with 7 seats, a gain of 2. The CDA went from 6 to 5 seats, DES remained at three seats. GroenLinks retained its one seat and D66 was a new member of the municipal council, also with 1 seat. List Cooperation decreased from 7 to 6 seats.