Despite concerns in advance, the municipality of Barneveld looks back on a successful farmers’ protest day, mayor Jan Luteijn judged on Wednesday evening. The farmers’ protest against the cabinet’s nitrogen plans was attended by tens of thousands of people in Stroe. According to Luteijn, there were no major incidents. He speaks of a “relatively quiet course”.
The action was preceded by an “intensive week of preparations with several parties”. On Monday, Luteijn gave permission for the demonstration. In and around Stroe, the municipality imposed an alcohol ban and conditions in the field of road safety and public order had to be met. The municipality said it was prepared for a “hectic demonstration day”.
Despite the conditions, there was a lot of traffic in the run-up to the demonstration, so that the municipality had to call on people not to come to Stroe anymore. “The consequences for traffic were major,” said Luteijn, who unexpectedly saw many trucks at the protest in his municipality. “This is a point of attention that should be taken into account even more next time.” In addition, emergency services had to take action because of the heat that affected those present, and water had to be distributed on the site in Stroe and on the access roads.