Mayor Martijn Breukelman revokes the permit for the first coffee shop in Hoogeveen. The entire procedure also has to be done again. He does this in response to a scathing letter from an objections committee.
The committee states that mistakes were made during the granting of the permit. The municipality was not transparent and changed the rules during the process, which meant that not all applicants for the permit had an equal opportunity.
The investigation took place after several entrepreneurs objected to the process. The committee’s advice was therefore: revoke the permit. Breukelman says he takes this seriously and has therefore decided to withdraw the permit.
The permit would initially go to entrepreneurs from Maassluis. They wanted to open coffee shop The Q in Grote Kerkstraat
The mayor says in a letter that he admits that the municipality has made mistakes. “This has led to uncertainty and dissatisfaction among applicants, entrepreneurs and local residents.”
In the spring of 2026, Hoogeveen wants to present a new plan to politicians on how to proceed. It will then become clear how the permit will be issued again. Interested parties can then register again.
A number of entrepreneurs have previously indicated that they would not be happy if everything had to be licensed again. During the objections procedure, everyone was able to view each other’s plan for a coffee shop, but the fear is that others could benefit from this.