The Noordenveld municipality was too late, and so the opportunity to buy Panda Rosa camping in Steenbergen was lost. The new owner has given the residents – who are actually not even allowed to live there – until September 30 to pack their bags. But where will those residents go next?
The search for a new home is not easy, Sanne Cordes sighs. The 21-year-old student is doing her best to find a place somewhere, but the question is where it should be. “We are looking at anti-squats and knocking on the door of housing associations. But things are not really getting along yet.”
For months the residents of Panda Rosa lived under the assumption that the Noordenveld municipality would buy the campsite in Steenbergen. The city council was sympathetic to this, but did not want to act overnight.
In the end it took the previous owner, Willem Been, too long. He decided to sell Panda Rosa to entrepreneur friend Bert Speulman. Although Speulman has given the residents until the end of September to leave, that is considerably shorter than if the municipality of Noordenveld had bought the campsite. Residents actually assumed that they could stay in Steenbergen all year round.
Although the contact with the new owner is described as ‘good’, the residents must have found something else in the autumn. “The biggest fear is that we will end up in a homeless shelter. We want to prevent that.”
That is why a number of residents have engaged a lawyer. “We can no longer expect anything from the municipality,” says Cordes, who says he is deeply disappointed in Noordenveld. “They would buy the campsite and stand there for us. But we have heard nothing more from them.”
Alderman Robert Meijer (VVD) said during the last council meeting before the summer on July 13 that ‘a few cases’ would qualify for crisis relief. There is no question of a social plan, he says. “And the help we offer is received in varying ways.”
Meijer indicated that the municipality was indeed looking at the possibilities for the residents of Panda Rosa. “But that is not happening quickly in this housing market.”
Owner Bert Speulman does not yet know what he will do with Panda Rosa after September 30. “I gave myself time and rest to think it through,” he says.
According to him, the conversations with residents take place in an atmosphere of ‘mutual respect’. According to Speulman, financial compensation for moving does not yield anything. “In many cases, that money ends up with the administrator. It does not ensure that replacement housing is provided.”