A hotel for 400 migrant workers will be built in the outskirts of Liempde, while the neighboring hamlet of Vrilkhoven consists of 100 inhabitants. “We are getting three times as many neighbors without being asked,” says resident Maureen van Hattum. To show the impact of the arrival of the migrants, 250 local residents gathered in the outlying area on Monday evening. “Everyone has one or two wooden dolls in their hands. One for every migrant worker.”
The permit for a migrant hotel for 400 workers at Oude Rijksweg 11 in Liempde has already been obtained. The more than one hundred residents of Vrilkhoven who live next to the site of about 16,000 square meters do not understand that they will have 400 neighbors without consultation.
“Our safety can no longer be guaranteed. With so many extra residents, there will be more nuisance, there is too little enforcement and we are concerned about traffic,” says resident and spokesperson Maureen van Hattum.
To show the impact of so many migrants, more than 250 people acted as migrants on the meadow opposite the site on Monday evening. Maureen: “The municipality has tried to stop this action. They believe that it is too dangerous to gather so many people in one place. That is quite special, because four hundred people will be living here.”
“I am afraid that the migrants will cause a nuisance.”
At the moment there are still poultry houses and an egg room of a former agricultural company on the site. But it is the intention that SBA Flex from Tilburg will build a new hotel on that spot. This is intended for temporary workers from Central and Eastern European countries in particular who work for the company.
Sjaak has a mini campsite close to the site. He is concerned about the arrival of the migrant workers. “Those people don’t work all day, so they go off the site in their free time. I am afraid that they will cause a nuisance, so that I will receive fewer or no guests.”
Resident Jan adds: “We have a caravan shed five meters from where the new building will be built. I don’t like the fact that soon four hundred people will be able to watch on that site, but also on our private property.”
“The municipality decides things without consulting.”
Despite the permit issued by the municipality of Boxtel, there is still a chance that the labor migrant hotel will not be built. Because the environmental permit for SBA Flex is still missing. To do this, the company must first sit down with the residents of Vrilkhoven.
Consultation with the residents of Vrikhoven plays an important role in whether or not an environmental permit is issued. By taking such actions, the residents hope that the permit and therefore the hotel will not come.
“The municipality decides things without consulting the council or those living in the immediate vicinity. I do not agree with that. If I stay home, the plans will definitely go ahead. I hope our actions will help,” says resident Jan.
