Councilor Norbert Baas, who until recently was the largest coalition party in the municipality of Westerveld, is switching to a new political party. He will announce this tonight at his farewell.
Baas quit the Duurzaam Sterk Westerveld (DSW) party. He thought that too many decisions were made without consultation and said that he did not feel heard within the party. He gave his seat back to the party.
His retirement from politics is not final, as it turns out. Baas wants to be part of the new party Lokaal Sociaal Westerveld, which will soon hold its formal founding meeting. He sees himself returning to the municipal council in this way after the municipal elections in March.
According to Baas, there is a need for a new party. “A party that is filling the gap left by the old DSSW of Roelof Martens and the PvdA now that they are merging with GroenLinks,” he says. “A party that stands up for the less resilient from the municipality, and wants to achieve this by unlocking Westerveld by removing the Natura2000 status of the Holtingerveld.”
Baas leaves it open as to who else has registered for the party. According to Baas, the other people only want to make themselves known after the founding meeting on November 6.
Former councilor Henk Doeven will temporarily take over Baas’s place in the municipal council as a member of DSW.