Stray hunters from Eelde, an unpaved runway, ammunition depots, a practice village and what about a new place of home for train connections from the Johannes Postkazerne in Havelte. In the past year there were a lot of wishes in Drenthe on the Defense table. Extra helicopter landing places and expansion of the De Haar training ground will continue. This is why the rest fell off.
Defense wants to increase the use of fighter jets in the Netherlands. This involves 2,300 extra flight movements per year. Groningen Airport Eelde (GAE) has also been extensively investigated for this. Nevertheless, the choice of Lelystad Airport has fallen, this civil airport will soon be used militarily.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the fact that Lelystad Airport is preferred is due to the number of hindered people. The F35s would cause significantly more nuisance at other airports such as Eelde. There are also “fewer grazing and loft animals in the area around Lelystad, which can be shocked by fighter aircraft,” Defense says in the study.
The Dagblad van het Noorden recently wrote that Defense still wants to use the airport in Eelde occasionally for fighter jets of Defense. According to the airport there is no permit for that. Colonel Roy Hemmelder is also surprised about this. “We have talked about using Eelde as a fall -back port, that is not allowed now, the Air Force needs it, but it has not become for Eelde,” he says.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the sources that the newspaper relies on are outdated and no longer applicable. Yet he does point to large exercises for which space is being sought temporarily. “It is not inconceivable that we will end up with such a demand at Eelde Airport in the future.”
The main reason for defense to refrain from the unpaved runway in Havelte and De Haar is biodiversity. To practice with evacuations, Defense is looking for a so -called ‘Dirt Strip’. “Because the facilities abroad are limited and have to be reserved far in advance, training is not always possible prior to missions. There is therefore a need for an unpaved runway in the Netherlands,” says Defense.
Both the training grounds at Havelte and training grounds De Haar Borders on a protected Natura 2000 area. The soil and the natural values scored poorly on military use of transport aircraft.
In the end, the Ministry of Defense prefers the location in Deelen. Mainly because of the strategic lying near Eindhoven Airport and 11 Aircraft Brigade in Schaarsbergen who will practice a lot with the runway. “Moreover, there is already a short paved runway that can be used in anticipation of the construction of an unpaved runway for practicing short landing and ascending procedures.”
The bottom of training grounds De Haar also appears to be a major breaker before the arrival of the practice village. Defense is also intentionally opting for a strategic location in the south of the country. The hair is relatively close to the existing practice village of Marnehuizen and Defense wants the practice villages well distributed.
Finally, the Ministry of Defense had to look for a new location for combat vehicles from the 43 mechanized brigade in Havelte. Also called a raccordement. Defense always had that place near Steenwijk station, but due to redesign and residential construction plans that place was canceled.
Defense went looking for a place closer to the Johannes Postkazerne. In the meantime, the Ministry of Defense says that this plan is off the table because the housing plans at Steenwijk station will not be going on and the old installation site is therefore retained. “From a military point of view, its own raccordement is still closer to the barracks in favor of reducing road displacements. However, that interest does not outweigh the costs that would be involved without an additional necessity and the consequences of this relocation for the environment.”
The possible arrival of ammunition depots in Exloo and Zweeloo fell out earlier. That because of the number of homes that would be hit by the arrival of the ammunition depot. In addition, it would be too great a damage to the landscape.