It will take until the end of 2023 before the necessary compensation for nature is ready to expand the Kloosterveen district near Assen with another 2500 houses. According to the province, a plan of action will not be ready until the end of this year. And then it will take another year before rare geese from the Fochteloërveen have replacement feeding and resting places, the so-called foraging areas.
The Provincial Executive of Drenthe report this in a letter to the municipal executive of B and W van Assen. “The tasking for goose foraging areas is more complex than anticipated,” the statement reads. “That is why more time is needed for a well-developed plan, in joint consultation with the parties involved.”
Two months ago, the then alderman Karin Dekker of housing already warned that it could become ‘a long and difficult story with the nature compensation of Kloosterveen’, and that it would certainly take until the end of this year. “Especially because nature organizations can still find some of the compensation offered and possibly litigate,” said Dekker.
That was in mid-May, when the Asser city council decided to put 350,000 euros on the table for faster further development of Kloosterveen. Because Asser politicians want to speed up housing construction due to the high demand. The parties did not see the geese problem as an insurmountable obstacle. They trust that this will be solved neatly by the province and that Assen will not suddenly have to look for alternative construction locations.
Incidentally, the problem surrounding the feeding places for geese is an acute problem. Because it has no direct consequences for the new construction of 500 houses in Kloosterakker, for which the first lots have been issued. That construction can continue. According to a municipal spokesperson, there is an irrevocable permit for this. “But the construction of this first phase of 500 homes does cost the geese space, according to the research. And that must be compensated afterwards,” said the spokesperson.
Bigger are the problems for the next series. This concerns 2000 homes that still have to be built near Kloosterveen. They can only be built when the geese have enough space to eat and rest somewhere between the Fochteloërveen and Assen. The province must first issue a nature permit for this house construction, which will only be granted if everything is properly arranged for the birds.
The province and municipality were unpleasantly surprised at the beginning of this year when it turned out that the 2500 houses near Kloosterveen clashed strongly with the nature interests of rare bird species. Natuurmonumenten, Natuur- en Milieufederatie Drenthe and the Vogelbescherming were very critical about further expansion of the residential area much earlier. They warned of the overly rigorous plans and their impact.
The nature clubs were afraid of the displacement of protected birds from the Fochteloëveen. They therefore threatened to litigate against the construction of houses. But there were no legal follow-up steps, because the province and municipality promised to map out the natural consequences of housing construction once again. Meanwhile, Assen received the permit to start with 500 houses in the Kloosterakker area. Construction was started last year.
But when the in-depth nature research was completed at the beginning of this year, things suddenly changed. The nature clubs were still right. The conclusion of the nature study was clear: the full development of arable and grassland with another 2500 houses near Kloosterveen means the loss of important feeding and resting places for rare geese, cranes and swans from the Fochteloërveen. Compensation was therefore required.
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