The neighbors of the Van der Valk Hotel in Uden are stunned that it has been used as an asylum seekers’ center with 300 residents for three years. The neighborhood is already experiencing nuisance from the Foodcourt full of snack tents and fears that this will only get worse. “Things are getting grittier here,” says one of the residents.
They once lived so freely, but now people come and go. That started with the arrival of the hotel and a few years later the Food Court. The latter in particular has cost the neighborhood a lot of money. And still. Because the residents experience a lot of nuisance from drug-dealing loiterers, honking cars and litter.
“Van der Valk can pump money for three years. But we are in trouble.”
And while the local residents are still at odds with the municipality, the announcement of the asylum seekers center comes as a shock to them. From October, 300 asylum seekers will be accommodated in the hotel behind their houses for three years. A proposal that Van der Valk himself submitted to the COA and to which the mayor agreed without the consent of the city council.
“I’m not happy with it, but we can’t stop it anymore,” says Mien (87). She has lived in the Handwijzerstraat for 25 years, but feels less and less at home there. She fears that the arrival of the asylum seekers will only make things worse. “Wherever asylum seekers are, you hear a lot of misery. At first it was very pleasant to live here, but it is getting grittier,” she says. “And the worst part is that we as residents have nothing to say.”
“Often nuisance only becomes clear afterwards. You can’t say anything about that yet.”
The arrival of the azc is also causing a stir in the rest of Uden. A petition is already after one day signed more than 1200 times. The reactions people put on it are quite negative.
The neighborhood was updated by the municipality last week. According to Dtv News, emotions were running high. But it has also been promised that there are security guards in the hotel day and night. And in case of nuisance, residents can call a special telephone number.
Some have been reassured by those words. Like a man who is building a house opposite the hotel. “It has to get somewhere,” he says. “And moreover, we can report it if there is something.” He is not going to sign the petition. “I don’t think that makes sense. And often nuisance only becomes clear afterwards. You can’t say anything about that yet.”
READ ALSO: 300 asylum seekers for three years in Van der Valk Hotel in Uden
