Way too premature. That is how deputy Cees Loggen calls the decision of the municipality of Medemblik and housing corporations to stop the plans for housing status holders and emergency seekers in Zwaagdijk-West. According to him, the plan has not yet been sufficiently calculated and the province is therefore continuing the feasibility study. The Village Council says it is surprised and is considering further steps.
Right from the start, there has been discussion about the site at the Balkweiterhoek in Zwaagdijk-West, land of the province. It is seen as an ideal place for flexible housing. But local residents do not like it and think that the plan is being pushed through without consultation.
After the plan by the municipality and housing associations as financially unfeasible was labeled, the plan was rejected at the end of January. To the incomprehension of the province.
According to deputy Cees Loggen an ‘unwise choice’. He would have preferred them to stay at the drawing board. Also because Medemblik ultimately has a housing obligation. “They have now placed themselves outside the talks. This unnecessarily delays the whole process,” he sneered.
‘Much too premature’
He therefore thinks that decision is much too premature. “There is simply no detailed calculation on the table yet. The necessary work also needs to be done, such as research into the environment, traffic and noise.”
Because the last talks were held with the municipality and housing associations in mid-January. “The housing associations had made an initial rough estimate of the costs. A lot of data was still missing.”
For example, we still have to look at how roads, greenery and utilities such as electricity and sewerage can be constructed. The type of flex homes and how long they will remain in place must also be determined. “We don’t know all that yet,” he says.
Housing not excluded
To complete the feasibility study, the province itself is now taking up the gauntlet. Because if it turns out afterwards that the accommodation is financially feasible, the province threatens to put the council aside and push through its arrival. Even if the municipality and residents don’t want that.
“First of all, we will talk to the municipality. It is possible that the province will apply for an environmental permit to deviate from the zoning plan,” says Loggen. And that means that the province carries out this procedure instead of the municipality. In that case, residents can also submit an objection.
“But of course we want to talk to the municipality about the possibilities at the location for status holders and emergency seekers. We think it is a missed opportunity that the municipality does not want to cooperate in the investigation.”
The heads together
The Village Council said in a first response that it was ‘surprised’. Also because they are not yet aware if it news comes out. The village only receives the much-discussed letter a day later. “Communication leaves much to be desired in that regard,” says Roos Bruin of the Village Council.
Because the board of the Village Council had just started last year, when the plans of the province came out. They feel like Medemblik’s ‘drain hole’. “The village was kept in uncertainty for a long time, which led to unrest,” emphasized Bruin previously at NH News.
To dispel this unrest and to keep the lines of communication with the municipality and province short, the Village Council set up the working group ‘BWH 76/76A’. He recently sent out a pamphlet and a survey among the nearly 600 residents of Zwaagdijk-West. This was completed by 78 households. This shows that three quarters are against the arrival. “This working group will be reactivated. We will meet again as soon as possible. What will be our action plan?”
‘A Tubberg’
Politicians also demand clarification. Members of Parliament have the PVV and JA21 deputy Cees Loggen have already been put to the test. How do local politicians view this? The largest opposition party, Hart voor Medemblik, is shocked by the letter from the province. He points to the situation in Tubbergen, when the cabinet forced the municipality to accommodate asylum seekers in hotel ‘t Elshuys last year. “It’s really a little Tubberg what the province is doing here. They just push local politics aside,” says Tjeu Berlin, party chairman of Hart voor Medemblik.
The residents are now also sidelined, says Berlin. “If the province pushes through this, there will be no more opportunities for the village to exert influence. We are very shocked and surprised by this threat. We are now going to consider next steps.”
The municipality of Medemblik was not (yet) able to respond to questions from NH Nieuws.