A nature reserve near De Groeve will not become farmland for the time being. The Tynaarlo municipal council must re-examine whether it is necessary to convert the nature reserve into agricultural land. The Council of State determined this today.
Residents of the village went to court after farmers wanted to use a seven-hectare meadow as a potato field. During the investigation, the highest administrative judge discovered that the land was still part of the heavily protected National Nature Network (NNN) when it was converted to an agricultural destination. That is not possible at all and so the Council of State agreed with the local residents.
Later, the province of Drenthe removed the pasture from the NNN. But that is no reason for the judge to keep it agricultural. More things play a role, such as a land exchange that did not go through and the construction of a nature reserve a little further away.
The municipal council will therefore consider the issue again. This offers opportunities for the residents, because they do not understand that the province has removed the piece of land from the NNN, making agriculture possible again. “That is unique! Nowhere in the Netherlands do provinces convert nature back into agricultural land,” says Paul Piëts, one of the local residents.
According to the Drenthe Landscape, the intention was once to develop nature on all lands along the Hunze. But due to a southern diversion from the Hunze to the Zuidlaardermeer, the meadows at De Groeve became isolated.
“We only have limited money for nature development. And we would be better off investing it in plots that are better and contiguous. These plots will never have a high nature value. That is why it has become agricultural land again,” explains Melle Buruma of the Drentse Landschap.