The Valkenbergpark is a familiar place in Breda where people walk, picnic and meet during the day. As soon as the evening falls, the atmosphere changes: according to young people Luc Goos, Vera Langens and Sanne Woppenkamp, the park feels unsafe when it is dark, especially for women. That is why they started a petition to better illuminate the park. Within six days, more than seven -dogs have already signed the petition.
The trio hopes that many more people will draw the petition in order to move the municipality to action. When the three put their petition online six days ago, the reactions came in immediately. “Not only signatures, but also messages from people who have experienced bizarre incidents in the park in the evenings,” says Luc. “Bizarre things are happening. That’s how people were chased and robbed.”
According to the GroenLinks-PvdA youth, the Valkenbergpark is very dark in the evening, especially the side roads. “You really don’t see anything there.”
The initiators of the petition find it strange that the park was not illuminated in the evening. “The park is located in the middle of the city and forms the main route to the station. It is an important place for many people from Breda and people from the area. Enough reason to start the petition.” To make their point, they have already symbolically declared the park closed in the evening: “Of course it is officially open, but it just doesn’t feel nice. Especially not for women”
“We had the plan for the petition for a long time, but the recent terrible news items around the (in) safety of women on the street gave us extra motivation. Of course, lighting in the park does not solve everything, but it is a step in the right direction,” the three say.
The municipality of Breda has been aware of the problem in the park for some time, but according to the three, insufficient action is being taken. “Last year, council questions were asked. Then the alderman put two light towers in the park, but they were gone again after the summer. So the attention to this problem is not structural.”
Aim for more
The petition has been signed more than seven hundred times, but the initiators are aiming for more. A thousand signatories hope and expect to get them for sure. In their app group they are therefore talking about plans to draw it wider: more campaign, for example through flyers.
If Luc, Vera and Sanne’s plan will soon attract the attention of local politics, they themselves also want to remain involved in the lighting that is placed. “We are even working on a concrete plan,” they say. “Together with a number of students from the Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUAS), who understand the built environment.” They also want to ask the municipality to involve an ecologist in the project: “So that the splendor of the park is not lost.”