Meppel station is being expanded to improve the connection to Zwolle and Drenthe is committed to helping victims of the earthquakes in Morocco. Here you can read an overview of the most important news in Drenthe from last week.
The NAM wants to extract gas in Langelo. Underground gas is now used for storage, but underneath there is another layer of about 15 million cubic meters called cushion gas. NAM wants to get this out of the ground, but local residents and the municipality of Noorderveld are critical. They fear subsidence and its effects on houses in the region.
“A whole process will soon be started in which all kinds of experts will be involved,” says Mayor Klaas Smid. “This still needs to take form and content, but let it be clear that we will use that process to uphold our objections.”
Zorggroep Drenthe will no longer use foreign healthcare students in the future. There was unrest among a group of interns from Indonesia because of the workload, the number of broken shifts and there was hardly any internship supervision. “We want to ensure that the internships take place under good terms and conditions of employment. We will also continue to monitor the secondment agency Yomema in this regard,” says Camara van der Spoel of FNV Zorg & Welzijn.
The earthquakes in Morocco have caused a lot of suffering and Drenthe is not going to be left behind. A fundraising campaign was therefore started in Meppel on Wednesday. “You see suffering everywhere. Mothers standing in front of their house while the children are still under the rubble. That is really painful to see,” says Nordin Elkadi of the Al-Mohsinien mosque in Meppel. “It therefore feels good to do something and fortunately that happens.”
Two partridges, tens of meters in size, have been visible in a meadow near Zwiggelte since Thursday. Two farmers from the village created the work of art and they hope for one thing: a few seconds of attention on television during the European Cycling Championships. And the partridges mean a lot to Zwiggelte, as the Boermarke in the village often puts time into protecting these meadow birds.
On Friday, a delegation from the House of Representatives visited the station in Meppel, which is being thoroughly overhauled. There will be a fourth platform, so that train traffic towards the north will have better flow. And that is desperately needed, according to Danou Veenhof, regional director at ProRail. “If the train network here ends, the north will no longer be accessible.”