The municipality of Uithoorn has submitted an enforcement request to the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) due to noise pollution from Schiphol. That reports the municipality on its website. The mayor and aldermen write that they are “greatly concerned about the deteriorated quality of life in Uithoorn” and demand immediate action from the ILT.
Over the past ten years, noise pollution in Uithoorn has exceeded the legal limit every year – with the exception of the corona years, when there was much less flying. The ILT has not taken action against these exceedances for ten years; Internal documents, released after an appeal to the Open Government Act (Woo), show that the inspectorate internally called this attitude of tolerance “legally vulnerable”.
Last April, the city council of Uithoorn had had enough. In a unanimous decision, the municipal council instructed the mayor and aldermen to submit an enforcement request to the ILT.
‘Back against the wall’
The noise pollution in Uithoorn is related to the increasing air traffic on the Aalsmeerbaan runway. According to the municipality of Uithoorn, this runway has absorbed most of Schiphol’s growth, despite the fact that it is located in a densely populated area. The municipal council calls the repeated exceedances of the permitted noise level at Schiphol “unacceptable”.
“In recent years we have drawn attention in various ways to the unacceptable and disproportionately growing nuisance in Uithoorn,” says Uithoorn councilor for Schiphol Affairs Ferry Hoekstra. “This has still not led to actions that reduce the nuisance. As a municipality, we stand with our backs against the wall and see no other way out than to start this legal procedure.”
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