The municipality of Midden-Drenthe should not be too modest with its compensation offer to Defense. Compensation must also be provided for longer than ten years. To this end, the parties in the municipal council are calling on Mayor Jan Zwiers.
The bid that the municipality has written to have Defense compensate for the expansion of the De Haar training area is a good start, according to the Midden-Drenthe political community. At the same time, various parties see it as too modest.
“This offer is still too reserved,” says Jan Jonker of MiddenDrenthe Nu. “The training area is not a choice of the residents, but a major decision taken in The Hague. Defense must show responsibility and invest structurally.”
“What is generous and what is fair, that is a difficult question,” says Marten Leistra of D66. “A quality of life fund and area fund is good. But the compensation must last longer than those ten years.” The VVD also agrees with this. Positive Vooruit even advocates thirty years.
There was some uncertainty when the council announced the compensation offer. This discusses lobbying for investments in Beilen as a transport hub. This appears to be an offer from Defense to the municipality. According to Mayor Jan Zwiers, compensation money will only go to the area around the expansion of the training area.
Zwiers also had discussions about this last week with interest groups around De Haar and Dorpsbelangen Hooghalen. “During the conversations, nice things were said and good additions were made,” Zwiers reflects. At the same time, he warns that the interests of the various people in the area could come into conflict. “One person experiences nuisance differently than another.”
It is not yet known how much money will be requested. It is clear that the money must be made available to the people who suffer the consequences.
“Their opinion on this is the most important thing,” says Tineke Posthoorn of the PvdA. “They must decide for themselves what is needed in their villages. Defense must behave like a good neighbor and look at the interests of the residents.”
Ageet van Dijken (Christian Union) agrees. “Justice must be done for the people who are affected. That is why there must be long-term investments in the villages around the training area.”
Gemeentebelangen has little confidence in this. “Defense has taken almost nothing into account so far. I think this is another bubble.”
