Members of various Zandvoort sports associations are not happy with the new parking policy in the municipality. Practicing their sport becomes considerably more expensive, especially for people who come from outside Zandvoort. One of them is Mirjam Vrees, who has been playing golf in Zandvoort for more than twenty years with her husband. “It costs us about eight hundred euros extra per year.”
Since the introduction of the new parking policy in Zandvoort, visitors to the sports clubs have also had to pay to park. With a rate of 1.50 euros per hour, a visit to the golf course can easily cost 7.50 euros extra.
Full price
Mirjam Vrees is also experiencing this, who pays the full rate as a Haarlem visitor to Zandvoort. “In golf you are always there well in advance and if you play a match, you also hang out afterwards to wait for the award ceremony. Then you are at least four or five hours later.”
With a special permit, residents of Zandvoort can park for free at the golf club for the first two hours, but after that they also have to pay. “They then have to set an alarm on their phone and if it goes off while playing golf, turn on the parking app. Otherwise you get a fine,” says Vrees.
Peter Bruining is the chairman of Golf Club DeZandvoortse. He has been campaigning against paid parking at sports clubs for some time, together with the presidents of the jeu de boules association and scouting. “We consulted with the municipality, but the parking policy was implemented anyway. That will often cost our members who come from outside Zandvoort an extra seven hundred to a thousand euros a year.”
This also applies to Vrees, who can be found at the sports club two to three times a week. “We play golf all year round, there is no summer or winter break. In total this will cost us about eight hundred euros extra per year. There are plenty of other clubs in the area that are just as far away for us, where we do for free But of course we don’t have as much of a social life there as we have on this track, we’ve been playing here since it was built.”
According to Bruining, it is precisely the social aspect that makes the club so valuable. “We are an active association, especially for older people. The average age of our members is about 69 years. For many members it is an important part of their lives,” he says. “It would be a shame if that goes away.”
Fear is already noticing a difference at the golf club, while the parking policy was introduced two weeks ago. “You can already see that people don’t stay for a drink, so they spend less in the clubhouse.”
“Last Thursday evening we had an evening game. Usually it is busy on the track, people have lessons or practice on the driving range. Now there were ten cars in the parking lot,” she says, bewildered. “There is always a lot of parking space and now everyone is being duped.”
Appointment with alderman
“It just turns out that it doesn’t work,” says Bruining. “Parking via the app is also drama. I was shot again this morning by three older members who did not know how it works.”
“With a group of different associations, we want to make an appointment with the alderman in the short term,” he continues. “Then we can discuss our findings and hopefully a solution can be devised soon. Other clubs have a summer break, but golf continues all year round.”
Football and Scouting
“Actually, you can park for free at any golf club like ours,” explains Bruining. “They are not interested in football either, people arrive there with six cars full of children and they all have to pay. And you can go to scouting for four euros a day, but if you want to park there for two hours that already costs three euros extra.”
The municipality of Zandvoort previously informed NH Nieuws that an evaluation of the parking policy is planned in October. A spokesperson said about parking via the app: “As a municipality, we are committed to endorsing the convenience of app parking. We offer support for this, for example through instructional videos and personal assistance.”