Assen council does not have to look for other construction sites in and around the city as an alternative to expanding Kloosterveen. A motion by D66, GroenLinks, PvdA and 50PLUS, to have a search location on hand, was voted down in the city council tonight.
The four parties are afraid that another 2,500 new homes will be built in Kloosterveen, which is planned, because of problems with nitrogen and foraging areas for protected geese and swans of the Fochteloërveen. The advancing houses of Assen endanger the feeding places, and that must be repaired, according to further research. No houses without compensation.
In the meantime, the council wants to further develop the Kloosterveen residential area for 350,000 euros. Especially because there is a great housing need. But now that there are problems in this area, the four parties consider it too great a risk to keep the focus on Kloosterveen alone. In the motion, they demanded that alternative development options be on the table before September for the construction of 2,000 houses elsewhere in Assen.
But the other parties find the motion unnecessary. City party PLOP calls the doom scenario of the four ‘a blow in the air’. “Official time is a precious commodity and that is why you should not be working on a what if scenario,” said party chairman Henk Santing. ChristenUnie, Assen Centraal, VVD and SP also want to keep the focus on Kloosterveen, despite the problems that arise. “We are confident that we can further expand Kloosterveen.”
Alderman Karin Dekker does not expect that there will be clarity at the end of this year about compensating for the natural damage for 500 houses in Kloosterakker. The next question is how and whether the next 2,000 homes can be built.
Dekker: “I think it will take a little more time. We are busy with the province. There will be an action plan, and we have to reach agreement about it with the nature clubs. That takes some time, and then a nature permits can be granted, and objections can be lodged against that too.” Even though Assen runs a risk, in the meantime, according to Dekker, work must be done on the further development plan of Kloosterveen, in order to accelerate.
D66 party chairperson Adinda Bornkamp, who would have liked a search for alternative construction locations in the coming months, points out that Assen cannot afford Kloosterveen to slow down or fail. “The pressure on the housing market in Assen is great and future new construction is essential to reduce that pressure.”
But a council majority is afraid that an investigation into alternatives by the officials at city hall will delay things unnecessarily, and also play into the hands of land speculators. That is why the motion for other search locations for Kloosterveen was ultimately voted down with eleven votes in favor and nineteen against.