Winnie de Wit (70) from Assendelft has been fighting against aircraft nuisance at Schiphol for about 30 years. First as a mother of two children and now for her grandchildren. “I want them to have a healthy future,” says Winnie, who wrote a letter to the new government at our request.
‘Dear new government’
With the elections approaching, NH publishes a story every day from a North Hollander who wrote a letter to the new government at our request. What do residents from different corners of our province hope or expect from the new national government?
“‘Schiphollen’ means misleading through manipulation”
Winnie is saddened that Schiphol is allowed to continue as normal. “The Van Dale even contains a verb: ‘Schiphollen’. That means to mislead through manipulation, lies, distorting facts, etc. That actually says enough.” Winnie refers to the websitevliegherrie.nl where all data about noise is stored and updated.
Winnie has a beautiful garden, but she doesn’t like going there because of the noise. Also this morning you can hear the planes, which are hidden behind the clouds. “These are ascending planes and that doesn’t bother you much. But the descending planes and the freight traffic are impossible. It also continues in the evening and early morning. I can’t sleep because of it. And because I don’t earplugs in, I lie on my side with a finger in my ear.” According to Winnie, the average noise pollution is 73 decibels.
Of course, Winnie and her husband considered moving, but their love for the ribbon village of Assendelft made them stay. “My mother has moved to Heerhugowaard. She really cannot stand aircraft noise. She is traumatized because she saw a plane crash during the war.”
Dear new government,
What you should put an end to as soon as possible is ‘paper reality’. An almost endless number of dossiers have been allocated – often via ‘goat paths’ – to a situation that is as favorable as possible for the industry.
This strategy, which has been maintained for decades, has ensured that the Netherlands has now dropped all the way to the bottom of almost all possible lists – with regard to the basis of a healthy living environment for people, animals and nature. And to think that we held a top position. The fact that we even have a very low position in terms of child safety makes me, as a grandmother of 4 grandchildren, very sad.
I continue on one of the goat paths, the ‘Schiphollen’.
The above-mentioned unjust attitude towards Dutch citizens means for us here in Assendelft (municipality of Zaanstad) that with the arrival of the possibly illegally constructed Polderbaan – next to the already existing Zwanenburgbaan – a continuous attack is being made on our cardiovascular system, that people are in very bad shape in terms of sleep. Many would want to move if they had the money and knew where to go.
Because this flying terror (it really took me a long time to call it that, but it IS simply criminal) is no longer bearable for many.
Flyherrie.nl – the only independent website for reporting air pollution – regularly contains poignant stories from people (in the wider area around Schiphol) who write that they can only find peace in death. This public health problem, which could have arisen through the so-called ‘Schiphollen’, is very underestimated. 30 years of a lot of noise increases the risk of cerebral infarction and heart attacks, especially for the elderly – and I actually see this in my environment.
I have been involved in this dark, heavy aviation story intermittently for more than 30 years now, and it is because of the birth of my eldest grandchild Sara that I have had to pick it up again. That necessity comes from my heart, which cannot stand injustice.
Even though my husband and I have had an extremely difficult year due to his esophageal cancer; this battle continued and continues to be waged by me – I can’t NOT do it anymore.
Then you want to let ‘fresh’ air into the living room in the morning for him – who lives on the couch day and night during his illness – and then you see in the air purifier app that there is moderate or bad air outside again with a lot of particulate matter. What should you do then? Then the windows and doors remain closed again…
You can no longer sit in our beautifully renovated garden because of the constant noise. Now you are even sentenced to the purified air in your house – so you actually live in a kind of bunker.
40 years ago – when we moved here – Assendelft was a beautiful ribbon village, now it has become the number 1 noise sink in the Netherlands. Airplanes flying in stereo and a lot of Dorpsstraat car noise on top of that.
With kind regards,
Winnie de Wit
Winnie has an air purifier in the living room because her husband is recovering from a serious illness. “In the accompanying app I can see what the air quality is like. The air outside is only good when there is an easterly or northerly wind. Because then no planes fly low.”
The recent news that Schiphol does not have to downsize further only strengthens Winnie in her fight to continue. “I really don’t do it for myself anymore, because it will take my time. But my granddaughter, who puts her hands on her ears when a plane comes over low, deserves better.”
Winnie shows where the planes come over from. – NH News