There will be no new coffee shop in the Koningsoord shopping center in Berkel-Enschot for the time being. The municipality of Tilburg announced this in a letter to local residents. The municipality refused the permit because the entrepreneur changed the application in the meantime. That’s not allowed. Mayor Weterings personally went to the village council on Thursday evening to tell the news.
It is not yet clear whether the plans have been definitively rejected, or whether there may still be a coffee shop at a different location. For now, the plan to open a coffee shop in the Koningsoord shopping center will not go ahead. The municipality will provide more information later.
In November, hundreds of residents of the village protested against the arrival of the coffee shop during two council meetings in Tilburg. Nearly 4,500 residents also signed a petition against the coffee shop. The villagers are afraid of a lot of traffic nuisance caused by visitors to the coffee shop. The sale of cannabis would also endanger the village’s youth and deter customers in the mall.
Additional coffee shops
In June, it was decided by drawing lots that two more coffee shops could be added in Tilburg, in addition to the eleven that are already there. For the first time, cannabis could be sold outside the city center of Tilburg. A coffee shop was built on Verdiplein in Tilburg Noord and one in the new Koningsoord shopping center in Berkel-Enschot. The coffee shop on Verdiplein was quickly rejected because it would be too close to a youth center. But the plans for the establishment of the coffee shop in the new village center of Berkel-Enschot went ahead.
Because there were so many protests, there was extensive discussion in the municipal council about the new location for the coffee shop. The opposition, led by Hans Smolders’ LST, wanted a pause to take a closer look at alternatives.
According to him, it might be better to sell cannabis on the outskirts of the city, for example on an industrial estate. But the coalition, VVD, PVDA, GroenLinks, and D’66, saw nothing in that plan and wanted to continue with the unpopular measure.
It is not yet clear what exactly the owner of the coffee shop has changed in the application.