This time in Drenthe week we focus on the number of Drenthes in the House of Representatives, because there are too few according to former MP Erik Ziengs from Assen. We also visited sports clubs, because they are struggling with declining membership numbers.
But we start on Monday. The first day of the autumn holidays in our province. Despite the weather, it was busy at the campsites and holiday parks in Drenthe. “We notice that it is getting busier every year during the autumn holidays,” says Noelle Govers from camping de Norgerberg. According to her, the sector has been on an upward trend since corona and it is not only Dutch people who are discovering Drenthe.
35 people from Drenthe have a chance to appear in the House of Representatives after the upcoming elections. Most people from Drenthe are on the list for Forum for Democracy. This is followed by the BBB and the VVD. For most people from Drenthe on the list, a place in the House is far away. “If you make an analysis based on the polls, you arrive at possibly five people who could end up there,” says former VVD MP Erik Ziengs. And if the penny falls wrong, that number can drop to about three.
Sports clubs have been struggling with declining membership numbers since the corona period. On Wednesday, the Assen hockey club tries to encourage people to pick up the stick (again) with a special day. Players from the Dutch team came to Assen to offer children a great day of hockey. European champion Jorrit Croon, among others, had settled in the provincial capital. He was joined by top hockey players such as Yibbi Jansen and Duco Telgenkamp. They hope to spread the hockey virus so that more children take up the stick.
A deliberate action to scare away visitors to a gay meeting place near the Mondenweg car park on the Zuiderblok. This is what Hans Scheffer of the Keelbos Foundation calls the tree camp carried out near the parking lot at Drouwenermond. “It seems clear to me that they want us out of here.”
Hugo de Jonge delivered the news on Thursday that the construction of solar parks on agricultural and natural land is being restricted. The next day, farmers’ organization LTO Noord and the province of Drenthe reacted happily to that news.