Local residents of the Oranjekanaal between Smalhoorn and Zuidveld are worried. There is a sandy path on the south side of the canal. The municipality of Midden-Drenthe wants to harden that for a good bicycle connection. Local residents want it to stay that way.
That it lives with local residents is evident from the number of people who gather in a short time. They think it’s a shame when the sandy paths on the so -called Pacific, the south side of the Oranjekanaal disappear. To join forces, a pamphlet has been hung, a website started and set up social media accounning.
According to the municipality of Midden-Drenthe, this is a stretch of approximately 5 kilometers of sandy path that needs to be hardened to make a ‘safe and comfortable bicycle connection’ from Hoogersmilde to Orvelte. The path must be 3.8 meters wide on a few pieces, the municipality says in a written response. A narrower cycle path could quickly be damaged by agricultural traffic.
Cyclists can currently go on the large, narrow road via the north side of the Oranjekanaal where cars drive sixty kilometers per hour, via the side side along partly sandy paths and partly asphalt or partly through the village. But the fact that the municipality now wants to asphalt the sandy path, it was shocked by Wiecher Kerkmeijer. “It has an impact. Not only for the residents of the south side, but also people who like to walk with the dog. Who enjoy the peace who enjoy nature.”
The plan to tackle the sandy path ‘On the Pacific side’ has been there for some time. In 2019, the project came to a halt due to understaffing, Corona and other priorities, the municipality said. In 2023 the plan went again by the city council as part of a bicycle plan in the province. “There are now possibilities and capacity, which is why the municipality is now taking the time to resume the preparation and implementation of the plans,” the municipality said in a written statement.
Mannuela Huisman is also with the group. As a local, but also a bit as a councilor of the party, she is positive, she says. “Now suddenly during the recess you can read in the newspaper of Midden-Drenthe about a concrete path of almost four meters. Yes. That is not fun.” Although this plan has been talking for years, it now comes out of nowhere, she believes. “In 2019 it was promised that it was gone. There was also a residents’ meeting in Zuidveld. There was emphatic that, if the plans were changed, participation was possible. That local residents who were then involved would be informed. And now you have recess. The council is not kept informed and then you have to hear from the newspaper.”
During the earlier plans, Kerkmeijer went against it with the neighborhood. “That has been canceled. Then Corona came and now it was taken out of the drawer again.” Kerkmeijer says he has not been approached again by the congregation. In a written response, the municipality of Midden-Drenthe announced that it would talk to local residents after the summer.
In conversation with the municipality, the people who are here today would like to. They have a message for the municipality. “If possible, don’t start hardening all those paths,” is the call of Roel Scherjon, also associated with Sustainable Westerbork. “It is so beautiful that we have sandy paths here that you can also go over by bike.”
“We want them to stop this plan from the municipality,” says Kerkmeijer on behalf of the group. “And that the municipality is about alternatives in consultation with us, or asks us to think along.”