K3Delta – the company responsible for sand extraction in America at Een – is allowed to continue with the expansion of sand extraction according to the Noordenveld municipal council. The various council factions see no objection to the expansion.
K3Delta has been mining sand in America for more than forty years. The sand is used, among other things, for housing in the Northern Netherlands. Sand extraction currently covers 10 hectares, but the bottom of the current location is in sight. The intention is for K3Delta to expand the site from 10 to 30 hectares.
There will eventually be room on the site for a mountain bike route and tiny houses. Furthermore, 12 hectares of new nature will be created. The municipality of Noordenveld is positive about the plans.
This is noted, for example, by councilor Bertus Jan Epema (PvdA/GroenLinks). “No one is actually against sand extraction. There are concerns about other activities on the site, whether legal or not. But that is not what we are about.”
In a statement from local residents, they express concern about the security and supervision of the sand extraction location. They would often see ‘uninvited guests’ walking on and around the site, mainly in the evenings.
It is precisely these uninvited guests that currently make it impossible for the Dijk family to build three holiday homes on the site. The family, co-owners of the land, submitted a plan to the municipality of Noordenveld for these homes. Councilor Robert Meijer (VVD) does not want this at the moment, because he fears extra uninvited guests on the site. The houses would be accompanied by a ‘cut through to the main road’.
Meijer also sees ‘too great a risk’ of illegal swimmers if the houses are located on the east side of the site. “There is already illegal swimming going on, we know that,” said the councilor. “People have drowned or almost drowned in the past. Allowing this increases the risk.” He also indicates that there is an agreement with the owner of the nearby Ronostrand that no recreation is allowed in the area.
In the long term, the municipality wants to think about the Dijk family’s plan. But for this to happen, the extraction of the new lake must ‘go well’.
Next Wednesday the municipal council will make a decision about the expansion of the sand extraction lake.