A new Drenthe Parliament, protest in Schoonebeek and no extra money for rail and roads in the North. You can read an overview of the news in Drenthe last week here.
The Drentse Veenkoloniën are one of the least prosperous regions of the Netherlands and government policy maintains this. More and more young people are leaving, facilities are not there or they are closed. Three advisory councils want this to change and the government to invest more.
That is why they offered an advisory report to Hanke Bruins Slot, Minister of the Interior, on Monday. “We can’t keep doing things the same way. This report gives us good tools and then it’s up to people to judge whether we have brought about change,” says Bruins Slot.
24 members of parliament said goodbye to the Drents Parliament on Tuesday. State advisor Tymen Hein Corporaal was busy on Tuesday removing the ‘old’ name plates. “The new ones are already ready.”
A day later, on Wednesday, it was time for the new members of the Provincial Council to move into the Drents Parliament. Of the 25 newcomers, 17 come from the big winner of the election: BBB. Farmer Martin Jansen, who was still working on his farm in the morning, is also new. And his career switch takes some getting used to. “This feels a bit different than this morning, yes, but nice.”
A group of residents from Schoonebeek and Coevorden protested against NAM’s plans on Thursday. The NAM wants to move the injection of waste water from Twente to the empty gas field in Schoonebeek. But these plans are causing a lot of unrest in the region. “There are a lot of concerns from the residents. I think most residents don’t even know what agreements are being made. If they did, our group would be doubled tomorrow,” said Janneke Ensink of the action group.
A blow to the infrastructure in the Northern Netherlands. After a parliamentary debate, it was decided not to invest any extra money from the cabinet in roads and rail between the Randstad and the North. And that while the cabinet recently made commitments to invest more in the region. This decision also comes as a surprise to Drents deputy Nelleke Vedelaar. “And then yesterday the minister says ‘Yes, but sorry, then the provinces first have to solve the nitrogen problem.’ Now my pants fell off.”