Council of Aa and Hunze, get moving. The support group Behoud Homanshof from Anloo made this call during the municipal council on Thursday evening.
The support group wants to keep the Homanshof information center for Anloo and has been trying to get the municipality on board since 2020. Owner Staatbosbeheer wants to dispose of the information center and sell the monumental farm. That is a sore point for many residents of Anloo and the support group Behoud Homanshof wants to preserve the building and is requesting support from the municipality, the province and the Drentse Landschap foundation.
There is a plan with a budget that requires 169,000 euros each from the three parties. From the total amount of more than 500,000 euros, the Homanshof can be purchased and overdue maintenance can be carried out and solar panels can be purchased. According to support group member Gerard Scholtens, Het Drents Landschap and probably also the province want to participate, if the municipality sets a good example. “That is why we strongly appeal to the municipal council to be the first to make the 169,000 euros available.”
Very quiet
Scholtens told the city council on Thursday evening. “It remains eerily quiet from the town hall. Get the train moving so that the province and Het Drents Landschap follow.” If the amount is not reached, it will be over with the Homanshof and the information center will be sold to someone else and given a new purpose.
Councilor Ivo Berghuis wants to discuss the latest plan with the support group. He wants to try to persuade Staatsbosbeheer to temporarily stop the sale in order to purchase the Homanshof with the three parties. The municipality will not change the social purpose of the site to residential for the time being, according to Berghuis.
The Homanshof has been closed and not open since the corona crisis. The information center has an exhibition about the hiding place in the Evertsbos and Staatsbosbeheer has a model of the Drentsche Aa area. The front house of the Homanshof is still in its old state with box beds and old kitchen. There was also a tea garden that volunteers ran. The center with adjacent parking lot is also a starting point for many walkers and cyclists.
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