It should have been a vibrant, pleasant late summer market in the heart of Monnickendam, but early this morning the organization decided to cancel the event. Reason: the streets where the stalls should have been located were full of parked cars.
Despite posted prohibition signs, dozens of motorists park their cars where the market should have been held – NH News
This was despite the fact that the municipality had placed parking prohibition signs and residents had been warned via a door-to-door letter. “A lot of time was spent organizing this,” says entrepreneur and co-organizer Claudia Heldoorn. “This is a big disappointment.”
When market organizer Hanny Nedermeijer arrives at Noordeinde early this morning to set up the stalls, he has to blink a few times. “I thought: damn, what is this all about,” said Nedermeijer. “It was completely full of parked cars.” Hanny immediately knows: this will put a stop to the market. “Before they are all towed away, it will be too late for the market to start.”
“This costs a lot of people a lot of money”
Co-organizer and owner of a clothing and home shop Claudia Heldoorn sees a wonderful day with lots of fun people and a lot of turnover. She is very disappointed. “I was really a bit angry,” she describes her first reaction. “Look, those thirty-three people don’t do that on purpose. But this costs a lot of people a lot of money.”
Too small plates
The big question is how it is possible that all those motorists overlooked both the signs and the other warnings via the letter as well as a campaign via social media. According to organizer Nedermeijer, the size of the prohibition signs does not help. “In my opinion, it is because the municipality has placed too small signs,” says the entrepreneur. “You can drive right past it.”
Another explanation could be that many of the illegally parked cars did not belong to the residents themselves. “There were some residents’ cars among them,” says Claudia. “But from what I understood, there were also a lot of cars from outside.”
Next Christmas market new opportunity
The organization will consult with the municipality to see how the problem can be prevented in the future. The next market, a Christmas edition, is scheduled for December 17. “Maybe bigger plates,” entrepreneur and co-organizer Ronald Carabas thinks out loud. “Maybe you should close off the streets a day in advance. That could be a solution.”
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