Stichting Schaapskudde Het Stroomdal is being asked to adjust plans for a sheepfold. Residents of Anloo, where the sheepfold is to be built, ask the foundation not to provide an information center and a catering facility.
The foundation is looking for a place where a permanent sheepfold can be built. Sheep are currently staying overnight at an old Defense training area near Schipborg or on so-called ‘night lands’. In view of the return of the wolf, the latter is especially undesirable.
Working ad hoc
Moving the sheep is also a major logistical operation, says herder Elsbeth Mourik. “We have to work quite ad hoc to get the sheep from point A to point B. That takes time and energy.”
In addition, sheep like to return to a fixed place in the evening, says Mourik. “Sheep are routine.”
attraction
As far as the shepherds are concerned, the current location at Schipborg does not meet their requirements. The foundation has now set its sights on a parking lot near Anloo. “Anloo has a history with sheep”, says foundation chairman Ben Barkema. “The location is also close to an intensively grazed piece of land and there is space.”
Residents of Anloo are concerned about the appeal of a sheepfold to tourists. This was partly prompted by a brochure that was distributed in the village, which indicated that many activities would be organized and that an information center with catering facilities would be built.
Chicken with the golden eggs
Not a good idea, according to Janny Scholtens, among others. Not that she doesn’t like a sheepfold at all, but not in the form suggested in the brochure. “No bells and whistles. Just stick to a sheepfold and preserve the peace and nature of the area. If you focus on tourism, you will get a lot of crowds in the village and the surrounding area. Then you slaughter your chicken with the golden Eggs.”
She would prefer to see the sheepfold at a different location. “At the end of the newly constructed cycle path between Anloo and Annen. There is an open field in the middle of the forest. That is a place that is easier to reach from several villages, so that the traffic pressure on Anloo is already less.”
According to Scholtens, an additional catering facility and an information center are unnecessary. “We already have four catering establishments here and a beautiful information center in a Saxon farm (De Homanshof, ed.). I think that people who are not from Drenthe find that very beautiful. You don’t have to make what you already have. .”
‘Somewhat reassured’
Chairman Ben Barkema took the words of Scholtens and the comments of the other attendees to heart, he indicated. “It is clear: you don’t want a fair here. We don’t want that either.”
Barkema states that the first brochure has painted a wrong picture of the plans of the foundation. “That has not been useful. We will work with the comments and ensure that the residents see a new plan.”
Scholtens indicated that he was ‘somewhat reassured’. “At least I have the idea that we are being listened to.”