Residents and neighbors of the future Domus+ addiction shelter near Reinalda Park continue to resist. A safety plan with extra enforcers and lighting has not removed the fear. Now that the plans are becoming more concrete, the people of Haarlem can submit their objections.
If the council committee of the municipality of Haarlem agrees with the plan as it is currently drawn up next Thursday, the people of Haarlem can respond until January 18. A meeting has been arranged for local residents next week, where they can view the rules and drawings for a shelter location.
Notorious addicts
The so-called Domus+ location is the last station for addicts for whom recovery and return to society are not possible.
Haarlem is eager for such a shelter, given the ever-growing nuisance of drug and alcohol addicts in the city center. Until recently, a bench on Hortusplein was a popular place to hang out, close to the night shelter on Wilhelminalaan. Now the homeless hang around in other squares, because permanent housing can no longer be arranged for many.
It is clear to neighbor Henk de Bruijn that there should be shelter for the notorious addicts, but in his opinion this is not a suitable place in the Zuiderpolder on the east side of the city. “Here they hang out in the Reinalda Park where there is already a lot of nuisance and they go to the shopping center to look for their resources.”
Since 2018, when he received the very first signals that the municipality was considering a plot of an old farm in the Zuiderpolder, he has resisted tooth and nail.
“I will continue all the way to the Council of State. I still have bats and soil contamination to fight”
According to De Bruijn, the plan that is now on the table does not guarantee that he, his neighbors and the recreational cyclists passing by will not experience any inconvenience. The Parkwijk-Zuiderpolder district council will also submit an objection to this.
Line of sight
Chairman of the neighborhood council Ronald Fukken is concerned about safety. “Because according to the Province, the scenic line of sight may not be blocked, there cannot be a wall with a lot of vegetation between the location and the road. Then children and women can still be shouted at,” says chairman Fukken. “It’s not just about real safety, but also about the feeling.”
Sludge depot
Neighbor Henk de Bruijn remains combative: “I will continue all the way to the Council of State. I still have bats and soil contamination to fight,” he says. It is not clear to him from the documents that are now available for inspection what the effect of the construction plans will be on the bats. “And I think that the soil is too seriously contaminated due to a sludge depot on the plot near the place where the shelter is to be built. It contains lead and cadmium. I really doubt whether the soil there is clean enough to build on.” become.”
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