The Provincial Executive of Drenthe sees no role for the province in realizing the citizens’ initiative to make Westerborkerstroom clean again. According to the provincial government, this is up to the Drents Overijsselse Delta water board and the municipality of Midden-Drenthe.
This is despite the fact that the province wants more room for water, nature and recreation in stream valleys such as the Westerborkerstroom in the future and that water quality must improve.
The citizens’ initiative wants the Westerborkerstroom to become cleaner again in two ways: literally because the water quality needs to be much better and cleaner because the stream and the landscape around it can be improved and more natural. The stream should have less steep, natural banks again so that aquatic plants can grow and animals can live. And paddling and swimming should be possible again.
The once natural stream has been straightened for agriculture in the past century and now only has a function for water management in the area. Fish cannot pass through because of weirs and water plants hardly grow because of the steep banks.
The PvdA had asked GS whether the citizens’ initiative plan fits in with the province’s vision of the future for the redevelopment of stream valleys such as the Westerborkerstroom, and whether the citizens’ initiative should not receive the support of the province.
Yes, GS when it comes to improving water quality. No when it comes to ideas about modifying the stream or changing its course.
The province is responsible for water quality, but achieving improvements is a task of the water board, according to GS. The stream starts in the middle of Drenthe and runs to Meppel. According to the provincial government, the first part of the stream does not fall under the European Water Framework Directive (WFD), therefore not under the obligation to make the water cleaner. And that part is exactly the part of the Westerborkerstroom that the citizens’ initiative would like to tackle.
According to GS, the water board is free to also take measures in that part of the stream. According to the provincial government, consultation with WDOD shows that the water board “is taking the fish passage of the Timmerholt weir and the retention of water in the Westertborkerstroom into account” in the study into how to approach the entire stream.
According to GS, the plan for rerouting and re-meandering the Westerborkerstroom in the Scheursmaat area does not fall under the approach to stream valleys. Such a ‘bypass’ “does not fit within the stream valley designation used by the province. The province’s current policy for the stream valleys outside Natuur Netwerk Nederland (NNN) is aimed at preserving space for water within the existing functions and does not provide for large-scale redevelopment.”
But in the new Environmental Vision, the province wants to investigate how “the water level in the stream valleys can contribute to the retention of groundwater on the Drents Plateau.” The Westerborkerstroom is located on the Drenthe Plateau.
In addition, the municipality is considering housing construction on Scheursmaat. At the location of the ‘bypass.’ So, according to the provincial government, the citizens’ initiative should be with the municipality.
The PvdA faction will not leave it at that and wants to discuss the citizens’ initiative plan soon in the Provincial Council. Member of Parliament Rudolf Bosch believes that if residents take such an initiative, the province should be open to it and enter into discussions. Bosch also wants the provincial government to look much more at future policy for the Beekdalen than at the current one.
The Citizens’ Initiative informs RTV Drenthe that it will speak in the Provincial Council.