Tension is high at the Rijsenhout campsite now that residents have to leave

At first glance there is not much to see when you enter the campsite’s parking lot, but that changes as soon as you pass through the barriers. A tall pole with several security cameras stands next to the reception, where five men are drinking coffee. The new owners of the campsite prefer not to respond by name or image, but they do offer a tour of the site.

Whole toilet bowls in the garden

“We have about 160 places here in total, and if you ask us, the announced renovation is desperately needed,” says one of the men. During the walk he points out several chalets where the garden is full of things, from outboard motors to entire toilet bowls. “In terms of fire safety and electricity, many of the people on the site do not live here safely at all.”

However, this does not mean that the entire campsite is in a state of decomposition. Many new chalets have also been built on the site. Until recently, new residents have even arrived, who recently sold their house in order to live cheaper at the campsite. They find the way the new owners describe the campsite demonizing.

According to the owners, there was a great deal of shock when things started to explode in recent weeks: “We thought we were just buying a campsite that we could thoroughly renovate, but it is almost a kind of lawless free state here. We really understand that the people who live here “We have been shocked for a long time, but the fact that our colleague was hit on the head, for example, goes beyond all bounds. We no longer enjoy going to the site.”

Tension remains

In the last few days, the conflict between the owners and residents has escalated. The mayor confirmed that during a council meeting two incidents and that the police and enforcement will patrol the site more often in the near future. The latter brought some peace back, but the tension on both parties remains.

During the tour of the campsite, the new owners are given the cold shoulder by the residents. Most prefer not to speak to the media. A few people want to have their say, albeit off-screen and anonymously. “The enjoyment of life here is completely ruined,” says a father of two children.

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He has lived at the campsite for years and knows better than anyone how close the group of residents is: “Everyone knows each other here, your child could easily enter the site in the dark to meet up with friends. I say could, because no way that I now just let them out. Those new guys don’t seem to trust me.”

The new owners are said to exhibit intimidating behavior and try to subdue the campsite residents, says a resident who contacted NH herself. According to her, the waste dump has been removed and a ‘buyer’ has placed stickers on all chalets for those who want to sell their house as quickly as possible.

Rumor mill and bulldozers

It is still difficult to distinguish who has done and said what lately, because the rumor mill at the campsite is also running at full speed, the father of the two children acknowledges: “You hear all kinds of things coming at you, and one sounds even more worrying than the other. But when push comes to shove, I really prefer to trust my neighbors.”

According to the mayor, the residents and the owners will have to get closer to each other until September, but the resident has a hard time about this: “For the sake of my children, I am going to take my own money, but I know the people here.” “Most of them will just sit in the living room when the bulldozers come.”