The number of swans and geese has grown to such an extent in Hoevelaken and Nijkerk that the birds are causing more and more nuisance. ‘A neighbor in a wheelchair can’t move the wheels with her hands, because then they’ll be covered in poo.’
Gardens are being vandalized, the sidewalks are strewn with bird droppings and residents would not dare to enter their own home if an aggressive bird is at the door. Party chairman Peter Collignon of De Local Party therefore wants to know from the municipality of Nijkerk what the administrators are going to do about the nuisance.
John Kloosterhuis can talk about it. He lives at the Adrianus Vossiuspad in Hoevelaken. “My wife broke her right hip and right wrist last year and walked with a walker for a while. You don’t want to know what that thing looked like after a while, so much shit is here.” A neighbor in a wheelchair can’t get the wheels with her hands move, because then they will be covered in poop.”
And the problem is getting bigger and bigger, says Kloosterhuis. “With all the youngsters there are now more than thirty geese walking around here. It is one big mess. And then the municipality drives around in vans with the motto ‘Nijkerk Schoon’ on it.”
Complaint to municipality
Kloosterhuis complained several times to the municipality, as did a neighbor a few houses away, but so far has received no response. Reason for Collignon to put the municipal council to the test and ask what measures the council intends to take. Not only because the number of waterfowl is increasing sharply, according to De Local Party, but also because they cause dangerous situations on the road.
Kloosterhuis also saw two geese being hit by a car and being picked up by the animal ambulance. “And recently I saw a collision between two road users, because a goose suddenly crossed. It’s just dangerous.”