The gripping arm of the crane machine grisses a bunch of green from the top of Bult on the site of the ice rink in Weiteveen. The wood squeezes and creaks through the tight stranglehold in which it is held. Almost carelessly the arm plays the bundle over the edge of a container. Bennie Menke sees it all with sad eyes. The chairman of the Ice Association De Döörlopers would have preferred that the almost eight -meter high Easter bump had gone in the Hens. But due to the persistent drought, a line is now going through.
Weiteveen is not unique in this. Of the thirteen Easter fires in the municipality of Emmen, nine have been canceled. The risk of natural fire is too great due to the drought. Only in the places Nieuw-Weerdinge, Emmer-Compascuum, Emmen and Nieuw-Schoonebeek can it, for the time being. Other municipalities of Drenthe decided to ban all Easter fires.
All built -up bumps outside the four previously mentioned villages in the municipality of Emmen are clearing the field today. A part goes through the shredder, the rest becomes compost. “We had calculated at a party, until we received a message on Tuesday that it was not going on.” Menke first thought she was on the right side of the coin. “We are not close to nature here. So we hoped to get away with it. But unfortunately.”
What extra sanding is that all events around the Easter fire in Weiteveen also do not continue. Menke: “We had organized everything: music, something for the children. But the event permit was linked to the Easter fire. So there too a line went through. In Weiteveen that was the biggest disappointment. It is a kind of reunion among residents every year.”
The mayor of Emmen indicated earlier this week to fear for the future of the Easter fires. The regulations are becoming increasingly complex. In addition to a nitrogen calculation, ecological examination is also required. “I am not comfortable with the fact that we can do this for a long time,” said Mayor Van Oosterhout last Monday.
Organizers of Easter fires receive support, but it doesn’t get any easier, says Menke. “We do the Easter fire on our own terrain, so we are not stuck with all those permits. But all those nitrogen calculations. You have to make one for a birch, then a conifer and then another beech. Do not blame me, I am just a road builder. It is not easy to calculate all of that.” As far as he is concerned, it doesn’t have to be that complicated. “Just hold a party. Ready.”