In recent months, residents and entrepreneurs near the Nieuwe Meer near Amsterdam have regularly been bothered by large groups of young people celebrating on the water. Packed “party boats” meet in large numbers at once on the lake. Here the boats are linked together, after which the volume knob is turned up to the maximum. “A party should be possible, but now the measure is really full.”
The sound is carried by the water surface over a great distance. The boom of the bass also reaches the allotment complex next to the Nieuwe Meer. Hans Baas owns a small garden and experiences daily noise pollution from the lake. “It goes on and on and it’s often not music, but a stereo system producing a bass thump,” he says. “The boats are often fully loaded with passengers, 40 to 50 people. In addition, a lot of drink and the mess they leave behind at the beginning of the Riekerweg when they get off there.”
If enforcement is not scaled up, he will consider selling his garden. “I now often hope that the weather will be bad, but if this continues for years to come, I might cancel,” says Baas, who has been a garden owner for 25 years.
Floating parties
Residents around the Nieuwe Meer also fear an afternoon and evening full of annoyance every fine day. One of them lives on the other side of the water and has gotten used to it by now, but he has not signed up for this amount of nuisance. “We have a lot of problems with party boats on nice days on weekdays and weekends,” he says. “Sloops with 30 to 50 men and large installations on them. That has really gotten out of hand in the last year. Up to and including floating parties where 25 boats are tied together.”
Music on the terrace
The music and shouting of those on board the party boats carries very far: the bass can be heard far into the Haarlemmermeerpolder. Terrace guests of the Meerzicht pancake farm in the Amsterdamse Bos are also surprised when they hear from owner Karin van Dantzig that the loud music does not come from the speakers of the restaurant, but from the water further down. “It’s so bad that guests ask ‘can the radio be a little quieter here?'” she explains. “We don’t have any music on the terrace at all, so we explain that it is most likely the party boats on the Nieuwe Meer or on the Ringvaart.”
Enforcement
According to everyone who experiences nuisance to enforcement on the water. In the meantime, discussions have also been held between the municipality, enforcement, the police and local residents. According to the latter group, this revealed that the law enforcement authorities lack the capacity to intervene structurally in the event of nuisance.
A spokesperson for the Zuid district says that Enforcement is currently mapping the nuisance reports. The Zuid and Nieuw West districts will then consult to determine whether it is necessary to deploy additional enforcement on the basis of the reports. He points out that in the event of a nuisance, a report can be made on the municipal website.
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