There is no caravan, tent and therefore no camper to be seen at Corfwater campsite in Petten. Instead, there are fences and everything is closed for the time being. This is because the campsite is being transformed into a luxury holiday park with a hotel with 240 rooms, 13 apartments and 150 luxury dune villas.
For years, Corfwater campsite was a busy campsite in the small coastal village of Petten. Dutch people, but also a lot of Germans, were happy to pitch their tent every year at the campsite, which is located a hundred meters from the beach. Unfortunately for all camping enthusiasts, the campsite is now officially closed and the plot of land is being prepared for a new project.
The old campsite is being completely renovated into the Leisure & Business Resort Corfwater, where tents will make way for luxury villas, apartments and a hotel in the existing Huis ter Duin. According to Jaap Martin, chairman of the Petten Village Council, this upgrade can put Petten even more on the map for tourists. “Petten needs a little boost to become a bit more lively and I think with what they are going to achieve, that will be completely fine,” he says.
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Still, the chairman looks back on a good time, because the Corfwater campsite attracted many tourists and the entrepreneurs were of course very happy with that. “The campsite has been very important because of the high visitor percentage. I can’t visit without it being full there during the season. The campsite was even quite full when I walked past this week,” says Jaap Martin.
Objections
All those tourists who were last able to enjoy the campsite have packed their things again and it may still be a while until the resort opens. “Five objections have been received, two in the field of nature and three from local residents,” says Hans Kruijer of the village’s Entrepreneurs Association. And that means that these must first be treated before construction can even start.
Whether the target of opening in the summer of 2025 can be achieved is still uncertain. For Hans Kruijer, construction cannot start soon enough, because Petten is of course missing out on a lot of income due to the closed campsite. “A number of entrepreneurs will not be happy with that. Many tourists from that campsite went to the beach to eat at the beach pavilion, to the activities on the square, to eat at the catering industry in the village or to do their shopping at the Spar. This will now be less are.”
New Callantsoog
But when both gentlemen look to the future, they agree on one thing: the arrival of the resort will have positive consequences for the village. Jaap Martin: “The big advantage is that these bungalows and apartments will be rented out all year round. That is very important for the village from a commercial point of view.”
Will Petten become a tourist attraction like Callantsoog? “We have building restrictions in that respect. We are surrounded by dikes and roads and we have been stuck with housing for a long time. Petten will never become Callantsoog and I hope not. It is so terribly busy and large there and I think not that Petten has that ambition,” says Jaap Martin.
However, there are concrete plans to expand the center of the coastal village with 6 shops and 12 apartments on top, called Petten Plaza. There is also talk of a second beach pavilion and 80 beach houses. “Something is going to happen and that is important for the village,” concludes the chairman of the Village Council.