Drenthe politicians will again hold a citizens’ council. Residents can contribute ideas about how to proceed with public transport and mobility in our province. The Provincial Council must then work on the advice.
“If you ask your residents to think along, you must also do something with those advice,” says King’s Commissioner Agnes Mulder while she is personally delivering the first invitation to the citizens’ council.
“The citizens’ council is important because it allows us not only to hear the voice of our residents, but also to increase involvement in politics,” vice-chairman Sonja Hilgenda-van Dam summarizes the goal. She is part of the Citizens’ Council of the Provincial Council working group. “This can increase residents’ confidence in politics. Listening better to residents leads to better decisions,” is the belief of SP member of parliament Wim Moinat.
15,000 people from Drenthe will receive an invitation to participate in the second Drenthe citizens’ council. Eighty residents who want to participate will be drawn from these, who will together form the citizen council panel. These eighty Drenthe residents are a reflection of all residents of Drenthe by age, place of residence, education, profession, income and gender.
The citizens’ council may itself ask experts to help them make advice and plans. Drenthe politicians are not welcome during the meetings. “Provincial Council can take action with the results,” says Mulder, who is also chairman of PS.
Mulder is in Bovensmilde to personally hand over the first invitation letter to Willem Rumahloine. Rumahloine wants to participate in discussions about public transport. “This topic is alive and well in Drenthe. I already have a very simple example from the area. Around the corner there was a bus stop in the village. It has disappeared. Moluccan elderly people complain about that, because now they have to walk to the main road (N371/Drentse Hoofdvaart) and that is too far.”
Hilgenga-Van Dam also agrees that it is alive. “In 2023 we have already conducted polls on possible topics for citizens’ councils. Public transport and mobility were mentioned very often, as was healthcare. We as provincial politicians cannot do much with the latter, because that is not what we are about.”
The first citizens’ council was about housing and, according to Mulder, the advice from it will be incorporated as much as possible in the provincial planning process for housing construction in the near future. The Provincial Council itself also came up with the proposal to hold a citizens’ council on how to strengthen the bond between the province and politics with its residents. PvdA, VVD and PVV also saw fit.
“Confidence in politics has fallen to a low point. Time for fewer political backrooms and party bickering,” says PVV faction leader Bert Vorenkamp. PvdA faction leader Hendrikus Loof challenges all parties in PS to include something as standard in their election manifesto about how they want to strengthen the bond with the residents.
A majority of Provincial Councils, led by BBB member Ina Koning-Jager, opt for the subject of public transport and mobility. “Public transport in rural areas is under pressure, lines are running less or have stopped. Young people and the elderly are dependent on public transport, we trust that residents can provide creative solutions and ideas.”
If you want to use it to create new policy, these are the times and places, but then you will need extra money. Politics can also use the advice when drawing up the new Environmental Vision (what do we do where in Drenthe). They can also be taken into account when drawing up the requirements for the new bus concession from 2029 (when the Qbuzz concession expires) and the implementation of the new Emmen – Zwolle train concession from 2028 (won by Arriva).
Residents can already help the citizens’ council by indicating what they consider important about public transport and accessibility in Drenthe. This can be done by voting and adding ideas on the website www.wijzijndrenthe.nl.
The citizens’ council must submit a report with recommendations to Drenthe Politics before the summer. The Provincial Council will then discuss after the summer what they are going to do with that advice. But it is clear to Mulder and Hilgenga that politics has to do something about it.
