If it is up to eight nature and environmental organisations, administrators in the North do not insist on the construction of the Lely line and the associated construction of 220,000 homes as a solution for the Northern Netherlands. According to the organizations, the North should rely on its own strengths, they write in the report De Kracht van het Noorden.
The report will be presented today to the king’s three northern commissioners. According to the organizations, it is an addition to the Delta Plan for the North of the three provincial governments. The northern provinces and Flevoland offer to build 220,000 homes together. In return, they want the Lelylijn to be built, a fast railway line between Groningen and the Randstad.
‘No overflow of the Randstad’
But as far as the northern nature organizations are concerned, those homes will not be built. According to them, the North is not an overflow of the Randstad. They see the strength of the three northern provinces in nature, landscape and spatial quality and would like to strengthen them. That is why water management must be created that is climate-proof, nature must be further strengthened and work must be done on a network of landscape elements. According to them, this goes hand in hand with a future perspective for nature-inclusive agriculture.
The organizations see the North as a region where world-class nature, economically strong and nature-inclusive agriculture and excellent living quality go hand in hand. A region where high-quality food is produced and where work is done on the economy of the future. “In short, a healthy region where it is pleasant to live, stay and work and which therefore distinguishes itself from highly urbanized areas such as the Randstad and the Ruhr area,” according to the nature organizations.
Agriculture will play a crucial role in the plans of nature organizations in the coming years. Farmers no longer have to grow large quantities, but switch to high-quality and specific crops and services. There are opportunities in the peat colonies for innovative arable farmers who switch to growing crops with a lot of proteins.
Where nature organizations are not enthusiastic about the Lely line, they want the current infrastructure between places to be strengthened. They want investments to be made in better public transport and bicycle connections between the northern centres.
In addition, the organizations believe that tourism and recreation are important in the economy of the North. “The North has a wide range of possibilities for different experiences. From very active to very quiet, from city to wilderness.”