The Drenthe department of the JA21 political party wants to build a bridge in the lily breeding conflict. The party wants spray-free zones of 100 meters on lily breeders in residential areas and water extraction areas. With this idea, the party wants to get the Angel from the lily breeding discussion and get parties moving.
According to JA21, politics, opponents, local residents and lily growers are in a stalemate. “Both camps have to take a step towards each other, they have to get out of their harnessed positions,” says party leader Harry Omlo of JA21. The JA21 motion will be dealt with in the Provincial States on 12 February.
A bell round from RTV Drenthe along all political parties only gives little hope. Both the supporters and opponents of lily growing will not support the Ja21 motion.
Ja21 sees more and more indications of health effects due to exposure to agricultural poison, such as neurological disorders and blood cancer. The party does not want a ban on lily growing. “You can’t deny the toxicity of the substances, but we expect that definitive statements about the risks will be long waiting,” said Ja21.
The party sees growing resistance to lily cultivation, in which residents and interest groups go to court more often. These organizations find no hearing in the government and see a stalled and polarized debate in the province and Drenthe politics.
According to Omlo, the motion is intended to anticipate the possible consequences for health and on the other hand to ensure that lily growers will not get into a ‘cold remediation’. “Because what if the judge will soon impose a total ban on? Then we are even further away from home.”
Although friend and foe in the Drenthe parliament find the motion ‘sympathetic’ and have praise for the attempt by JA21, they see nothing in the plan.
BBB, VVD and PVV do not want provincial rules on top of the national rules. BBB party chairman Wim Vossebeld says about this: “Municipalities are already making local agreements with lily growers and local residents on a voluntary basis. That is sufficient.” The CDA is also on that line and wants to wait and see what the conclusions of the current investigations into lily growing.
“The camps do not come from the trenches due to the introduction of new rules,” said CDA party leader Bart van Dekken and VVD migrant spokesperson Roelof Oosting. Both are also afraid that there will still be discussion about the distance. “In addition, the lily growers themselves are already busy spraying less and growing more sustainably.” Forum for Democracy also does not want agreements, even if they are made on a voluntary basis.
Coalition party PvdA is also not for the motion. States member Rudolf Bosch finds the protection of residential areas and water extraction areas a step in the right direction. “But is this going to be the means to get the sting out of the discussion? I think it is a patch and that it is temporarily familiar with the mood.”
The PvdA is the only one in the college that the province chooses where it can and should not be bulb cultivation. The party wants to start with a ban on bulb cultivation in the Drentsche Aa area.
The ChristenUnie finds voluntary local agreements insufficient and wants the province to enter rules for lily cultivation. Agricultural word feeder Gerben Brandsema of the ChristenUnie: “The sustainability plan of the growers, the new agricultural race and the reduction of crop protection products in the Drentsche Aa breathe much without commitment.”
Anry Kleine Deters of D66 agrees. “It’s good that JA12 tries this, but we are over the stage of mediation. Political choices must be made about lily growing and that will not happen with this motion.” According to Brandsema, the Provincial Executive and the Coalition await judgments from judges and only adjust the policy.
PvdD, SP, Volt, D66, Volt and Lijst Pormes will not support the motion either, although they think the underlying idea is good. According to these parties, the motion of JA21 does not go far enough. “We want to go to organic lily growing and the reduction of agricultural poison has to go to zero faster,” said PvdD party leader Siska Peeks. Her colleague Marloes Kramer-Hamminga is the same because “water and soil must be cleaner”. SP’er Greetje Dikkers and Sam Pormes mainly criticize 100 meters, that is “not enough in wind and rain and offers insufficient protection.”
Only GroenLinks party chairman Ewoud Bos is still on the WIP. “No lily growing or without agricultural poison is not politically feasible. So perhaps support this motion, because it is moving in the right direction in this way?”
Lelieteler Gert Veninga from Hijken also finds the motion sympathetic. But according to him, the motion is not in line with the plan of the Lelietelers in Drenthe to grow more sustainably and he thinks it is an undermining of the entire arable farming in the long term.
“All Drenthe lily growers want the use of crop protection products in lily growing to a similar level in 2027. If you count on the national CBS figures about the amount of resources when setting spray-free zones, then we are already underneath.
But according to Harry Omlo, the plans of the Lelietelers in Drenthe have been taken into account. “The spray -free zone is not necessary if it can be demonstrated that the lily grower has reduced the amount of resources used to the level of regular arable farming. The lily growers investigate and experiment with a more environmentally friendly cultivation, but the results are uncertain for 2030.”
But the motion can also have serious consequences for arable crops, Veninga thinks. “The crop protection products that we use are the same as in the arable farming of, for example, potatoes, beets or corn. If you get a mandatory spray -free zone in lily growing, then local residents can also enforce it for the rest of the arable farming, because it has the same resources go.”
Lelieakker-Omwonende and Member of Action Group Measuring = Knowing Joke Kolthoff from Lhee also finds the idea of JA21 sympathetic. But she doesn’t go far enough. A spray -free zone does not prevent substances from getting a breath of fresh air over the environment. You have to reduce the amount of agricultural poison used to zero in steps, is her conviction. And according to Kolthoff, the province is up to make that plan.