The municipality of Coevorden is suspending evictions within the Wico bungalow park in Schoonoord and will not evict residents from their homes for the time being. Councilor Steven Stegen (BBC2014) promised this on Tuesday evening.
CDA, VVD and PAC insisted on suspending enforcement, pending a new investigation that the municipality wants to conduct into the recreational possibilities of the bungalow park. However, landowner Janneke Uiterwaal-Lampe does not allow researchers in because she has no confidence in the municipality. “The outcome is predetermined in advance.” The 68 houses in the park are all privately owned.
Coevorder politicians once again considered the Wico bungalow park, following an extensive study of the park itself that was presented ‘with due pride’ in the council chamber. The most important outcome is that Wico must remain a recreational residential park in the future. Permanent residents have been fighting for this for a year.
Panic and unrest
Although not formally permitted, permanent residence in the park in Schoonoord has been the practice for many years. At the beginning of last year, the municipality of Coevorden, following other parks, opened the hunt for illegal occupation of Wico. This led to panic and unrest in the park. Residents protested, but each time they felt not heard by the municipality.
That is why our own investigation was conducted. “An overwhelming majority, 88 percent, has a strong preference for preserving the historically dual character of the park. Where both permanent residence and recreation take place,” said Gerben Blaauw on behalf of the Future Bungalow Park Wico Working Group.
Rental not profitable
Almost everyone involved (94 percent) participated in the study. According to Blaauw, the results show that the presence of permanent residents is perceived as predominantly positive by recreational owners. “The already very limited rental does not appear to be profitable in any respect,” the report reads.
Residents protested en masse against the course of events in May last year. Councilor Steven Stegen (BBC2014) then promised to reconsider the recreational value of Wico. “If it has to be done without the cooperation of the landowner,” he added on Tuesday evening. He expects this research to be completed by the end of March.
Concerns
The CDA said it had reservations about the course of the process at Wico. “The municipality always seems to threaten enforcement. That stands in the way of cooperation,” said Sandra Katerberg, who emphasized that there are almost no houses available for people who would be evicted. The VVD joined the CDA and first wants to wait for the municipality’s further investigation.
The PvdA praised the constructive attitude of the working group, but Gilbert Mulder said he was surprised by the comment in the report that council decisions in the past were ‘made up’. According to Blaauw, a decision was never made that Wico would return to just a recreational park.
Ermerzand and De Tip
Coevorden launched the attack on permanent housing in response to the provincial Vital Holiday Parks project, intended to make recreational parks more attractive or transform them into ‘normal’ residential neighborhoods. The latter applies in the municipality of Coevorden to Ermerzand in Erm and De Tip in De Kiel. According to the research, Wico is comparable to these two parks. There is therefore a lack of understanding why permanent living is not allowed on Wico while it is allowed on the other two. All three parks were assessed in 2017 as non-vital for a recreational future.