GroenLinks in Assen wants measures in the short term to solve the shortage of feeding and resting areas for geese, swans and cranes in fields around the Fochteloërveen. Those foraging areas appear to be disturbed by the expansion of the Asser residential area of Kloosterveen, where 500 houses are being built.
The party raises the issue in written questions to the college of mayor and aldermen. The reason is an extensive nature study that shows that the Kloosterakker plan has consequences for the rare tundra bean goose, the whore swan and the whooper swan, and the crane, all protected birds.
Advancing neighborhood disrupts peace
They sleep in nearby Fochteloërveen, but during the day they feed and rest on fields around the peat. But the peace there has now been disturbed by all kinds of human activities, such as cycling, walking and walking the dog. They come from the residential area of Kloosterveen, where there are currently 4000 houses, but where another 2500 will be added. The foraging area is also becoming smaller due to the advancing housing construction on the fields.
Because the Fochteloërveen is a Natura 2000 area, the province must ensure that the nature conservation law is complied with and that there is no disturbance within 5 kilometers. It turns out that there is, according to further research. A number of nature organisations, including Natuurmonumenten, forced the province and municipality of Assen to carry out this investigation.
Province must compensate
The province now has to compensate for the loss of foraging areas, because it strengthened a nature permit for Kloosterakker. How this compensation will be arranged and where is still under discussion. There must be a plan for the summer. Furthermore, Assen must also think about how she will organize things for nature with another 2000 homes in Kloosterveen. Otherwise, the municipality will not receive a nature permit and cannot build. Assen is stuck because of that nature report and they find that ‘quite complicated’ at city hall.
GroenLinks believes that ‘such special nature areas should be cherished’. “They have high natural values and are important for the quality of life in Assen,” says party chairman Hans Marskamp. He wants the problem with the resting and feeding areas to be solved as soon as possible.
Concerns about housing assignment
GroenLinks is also concerned about the considerable housing task that Assen still has in Kloosterveen with 2000 homes, when the 500 houses in Kloosterakker will soon be ready. That will be in 3 years. “Because if expansion of Kloosterveen becomes impossible, what, according to the Municipal Executive, is the alternative to realize that housing task?” Marskamp wonders.
Natuurmonumenten is pleased with the results of the ecological research into the greater pressure on the Fochteloërveen. “It confirms our concern that we already had about the tundra bean goose, the whooper and swan and the crane. But we are not happy with that concern, nor with the increasing pressure on nature there,” said spokesman Fred Prak.
(story continues below photo)