The municipality of Noordenveld will soon be able to sit down with the owner of a controversial piece of land near Roden-Noord. A majority of the council is in favor of housing at ‘De Zulthe’, while local residents consider a residential area in the area ‘unnegotiable’. This was revealed at tonight’s council meeting.
It concerns a meadow on the Maatlanden and De Zulthe, where the municipality wants to build about a hundred homes. To do that, Noordenveld must first negotiate with the current owner. The municipality uses the so-called ‘preferential right’, which obliges the owner to first enter into negotiations with the municipality.
Although the municipal housing vision of 2017 stipulated that no construction should take place in Roden-Noord, according to the municipality of Noordenveld, there is now a need. Local resident Michael Pedonomou is surprised about this. “Agreements were made about the land during the construction of the Maatlanden road. It states, among other things, that the noise nuisance from the road will prevent construction.”
Council member Casper Colenbrander (Municipal Interests) thinks that the municipality should deviate from the existing housing vision. “In fact, it would be mismanagement if we did not approve plans in this time of housing shortage based on that vision.”
Tineke Nieboer (Lijst Groen Noordenveld) sees this completely differently. “We decided at the time to keep the triangle near the Maatlanden as a green zone,” she says. She therefore calls building in the area ‘acting contrary to one’s own housing vision and the wishes of its own inhabitants’.
The inhabitants who live around the much-discussed area have serious concerns about the quality of the soil and the maintenance of biodiversity. Mrs Kruiger, who spoke tonight, came to live in Roden-Noord in the spring of 2021. “We enjoy the storks and deer every day,” she began. “Within a month we had to read that there are housing plans behind our house, while that area has previously been removed from plans.”
Menne Kamminga (ChristenUnie) is in favor of housing, but says so in her own words ‘with a brick to my stomach’. “Because I understand Ms. Kruiger. You go to live somewhere with a certain perspective and confidence. When your confidence is betrayed, it hurts.”
He calls the proposed housing in Roden-Noord ‘a sacrifice to the community’. “In the long run you have to opt for a roof over the heads of your fellow residents. And then we opt for that.”
Because, according to councilor Christine Stille (Lokaal Noordenveld), there is not enough clarity about the special land on De Zulthe, she wants local residents to receive guarantees from the municipality. “There must be a reversed evidence system (comparable to the reversed burden of proof in the Groningen earthquake area, ed.), when the ground shrinks or expands due to housing construction.” This would allow residents to recover the damage from the municipality of Noordenveld, without having to prove that it was caused by housing in the area.
Alderman Jos Darwinkel (Municipal Interests) does not want to do that immediately, but promises to monitor the land to De Zulthe. “We understand the concerns about water and soil very well and take them seriously.”
An ‘exploratory study’ is currently being carried out, which according to the municipality shows that housing should be possible. “But those studies will be carried out even more extensively later.”
In Darwinkel’s opinion, the deviation from the previously drawn up housing vision is justifiable. “We are dealing with a crisis. In Noordenveld, 800 to 1000 homes have to be built.”
During the council meeting on Wednesday, March 8, it will be decided whether the municipality of Noordenveld can start negotiations with the current owner of the land in Roden-Noord. Only the parties of Lijst Groen Noordenveld and Lokaal Noordenveld (together good for 4 seats) seem to be voting against.