No more terraces on the water for the residents of the Radesingel in Groningen. People accept the court’s ruling, but they are not confident about the new interpretation.
The decking in the Verbindingskanaal in Groningen was demolished last week. The residents of the Radesingel did not do this without a fight. This was preceded by a long legal battle with the municipality of Groningen.
Most of the decking has been on the quay for about twenty years, the land actually belongs to the municipality. They tolerated the construction works until a resident announced in 2019 that he wanted to build a wooden terrace. The municipality then urged all residents to remove the terraces. Ultimately under pressure from a penalty.
It turned out to be the starting signal of that long legal battle. The municipality relied on the zoning plan, in which the quay falls within the municipal green area. The residents threw it out as a statute of limitations. The judge ruled in mid-September: the municipality was right.
“As residents, we counted our buttons. The lawyers indicated that there is little chance of success in taking the case to the Supreme Court,” says resident Jorrit Harbers. Last week he removed the planks from his terrace. “I am curious what the municipality will do with the land.”
Until now, there is no clarity about the details. “I don’t hope for anything anymore. We have sought rapprochement since 2019, but the municipality has always rejected that.” Harbers points to the quay of the Heresingel, a bridge away. “The municipality there spends 350,000 euros on combating Japanese knotweed. It will also proliferate here now that the terraces are gone.”