For more than fifteen years, sand has been poured into the Grote Moere in Grolloo to fill in the lake. This appears to have happened illegally over the last ten years. Local residents want clarity and demand measurements of the quality of the soil.
Staatsbosbeheer wants to transform the former sand extraction lake Grote Moere in Grolloo into a nature and recreational park. This is because the lake is very dangerous for swimming due to its depth – up to 15 meters in some places. Thousands of trucks full of sand are needed to fill in the lake.
But from the start, residents of Grolloo and the surrounding area have been concerned about the sand deposits. “We want clarity,” says Dick Oelen, secretary of the Association of Village Interests in Grolloo and Surroundings (VDGO). For years he has been one of the residents with concerns and questions about the activities at the Grote Moere.
And that is why he decided to delve into the permit rules for the work. Two weeks ago, Oelen, together with other people from Grolloo and the surrounding area, submitted an enforcement request to the municipality of Aa en Hunze.
No license
This was complied with. The municipality looked into the licensing process and discovered that a permit has been required for the work since 2013. Now, ten years later, it has come to light that Staatsbosbeheer does not have this available.
“We checked whether the activities of Staatsbosbeheer were subject to a permit requirement under the zoning plan. This showed that Staatsbosbeheer did indeed need a construction permit, but we did not issue one,” says a spokesperson.
How could this happen?
It is not clear how that could happen. “We were under the assumption that we had the correct permit,” says Hans Anting, spokesperson for Staatsbosbeheer.
Since October 26, the nature organization has stopped work at the lake at the insistence of the municipality. The entrance gate to the Grote Moere has since been closed. “There may still be some activity there, such as removing road plates,” says the spokesperson.
But that doesn’t end the matter. Residents of Grolloo and surrounding villages do not trust the sand dump and demand clarity.
“There are many stories of people who have seen deposits made at illegal times. Residents also think that polluted sand is being dumped there. There is rubbish along the lake and plastic in the water. Styrofoam even comes up,” says resident Dick Oelen.
The residents have no hard evidence of pollution. That is why they want research into the quality of the soil, the water and the influence of the work on flora and fauna. “We want it to finally be investigated. The suspicion that has existed in the village for years must be dispelled,” says the secretary of the village interest group.
Residents have also been experiencing nuisance for years from the many trucks carrying sand that drive up and down to the lake via the villages, often several times a day.
Long history
The unrest has a long history. Since the sand dumps started, Oelens knows, residents have had questions about this.
With the appointment of a new board in 2021, the village association decided to do something about the complaints from local residents. They contacted Staatsbosbeheer, but contact was difficult. That increased the existing suspicion.
Ultimately, there was a walk-in meeting in November 2022, where Staatsbosbeheer informed residents about the future plans in the area. The unrest did not diminish that evening either.
Since then, a special working group has been set up, consisting of two members of the VDGO and two residents from the surrounding villages of Papenvoort and Vredenheim. Their goal is to further investigate the sand deposits. Partly thanks to that working group, it has now been established that the work was not carried out according to the rules for a long time.
But that is not enough for the working group. The distrust surrounding the quality of the soil and its consequences for the lake remains.
Municipality makes inquiries
The municipality of Aa en Hunze also wants to know about the sand deposits. A spokesperson explains that the water board and the Drenthe Regional Implementation Service (RUD) are the supervisory parties for these deposits. “We will inquire with them about this,” says the municipal spokesperson.
A spokesperson for the Hunze en Aa’s water board indicates that they check each batch of land in advance. “We take samples and test them against the applicable standards and agreements. So far, every party has complied with this,” explains Ida van Emmerik.
For example, since 2019, checks have been carried out for PFAS. These are substances that are found in various products, such as food packaging materials, non-stick coatings of pans and clothing.
Staatsbosbeheer adds: “That land must meet strict requirements. It must at least have the class ‘residential’. That is land where you can live and also have your vegetable garden, for example,” Hans Alting explains.
He emphasizes that the purpose of the damping is to return the soil to nature. “We are a nature organization, so we also want the ground to be clean.”
What now?
It is not clear how to proceed with the sand filling at the Grote Moere. The municipality of Aa en Hunze is investigating whether the permit can be granted after all. This is expected to become clear within eight weeks. Until then, work is at a standstill.
But the village interest group does not want to speak of a cautious victory. “We are somewhat relieved. But so much has already been undone. And we want measurements to be made,” concludes Oelen.
After the commotion, the Hunze en Aa’s water board seems to have responded. A spokesperson said that water samples were taken from the lake today. “Following the concerns of local residents, we decided to measure the quality,” says Emmerik. The results are expected to be available within a week.
Before this, water quality was not checked as standard. “Because the lake is not in open connection with our water system,” the spokesperson explains.
‘At least ten years of rest’
The working group would prefer that the activities not be restarted. “We want the area to be left alone for at least ten years. Nature there has already suffered too much. We especially want the transport of sand by trucks to stop,” Oelen emphasizes.
If it were up to Staatsbosbeheer, there would be a new plan for the design of the lake. “We are in consultation with local residents and the municipality to see how to proceed with the development of the area. We have to reach an agreement together,” says spokesperson Alting.
Regain trust
He admits that the nature organization could have been clearer in communication in the past. “We apparently failed to reassure the environment. We take that to heart,” he concludes. “We understand that people in the area want to know what is happening. We hope to be able to regain the trust of the local community.”
Oelen agrees. “Confidence must be restored. That is fundamental. There must be transparency. It must be clear to everyone in Grolloo and the surrounding area what is happening there.”