It is nice and warm in the Bastogne village hall in Ansen. “Proof that it worked,” laughs Joris van der Warndt, chairman of the village hall. It has become the first gas-free village hall in Drenthe. Yesterday the gas tap was symbolically turned off by the alderman.
The thorough sustainability operation was not a simple job, Van der Wandt emphasizes. “We have had a board that has had the courage to Yes to say about the whole thing. That was a first step. Then it took us four years, at least, to get it done.”
The corona pandemic was an extra burden. Renovations then came to a standstill, and village houses generally struggled to keep their heads above water. Bastogne was also not spared. An award from Rabobank brought relief. That amount could be used to pay for half of the solar panels and their installation.
Van der Wandt: “That was an incentive to say: we are now going all the way. But it took four years before we finally got there and got rid of gas.”
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