From 2025, polluting vans and trucks will no longer be allowed to enter the city center of Den Bosch. Market vendors are concerned about this, because other transport is not easily arranged. “There are no electric vehicles available that can tow our sales vehicles,” says entrepreneur Chris Dammers. They are therefore afraid of the end of the market in Den Bosch.
The organic market in Den Bosch is being built up early. The sales stalls are driven onto the Market in vans and trucks. But those vehicles will no longer be welcome in the city center of Den Bosch from March 1, 2025. The area will then be a zero-emission zone: only vans and trucks that do not emit harmful substances, such as electric or hydrogen cars, will be allowed.
Market traders are very concerned because there is no alternative transport. “I want to make the investment, because I think the environment is important, but there are simply no electric vehicles available with which I can pull my sales truck,” says organic butcher Chris Dammers. “The most expensive electric variant costs 96,000 euros. But that car can tow a maximum of 2,500 kilos, while my trailer weighs 3,500 kilos.”
The environmental zone also causes problems for Daniëlle Ruiterman, who has her cheese stall on the Den Bosch market. “We drive a maximum of four kilometers. Because we drive so little, we often buy second-hand trucks or vans. I certainly have to invest one to two hundred euros in a car that I will drive very little.”
Due to the new regulation, 1 in 3 market vendors will no longer be allowed to enter the city center. “That’s what worries me most. Because there are colleagues who are considering stopping at the market in Den Bosch. They then choose other places where there is no environmental zone. You create a market together, so I fear that the market will soon no longer exist,” says Daniëlle.
Chris is one of the entrepreneurs who are considering leaving if he does not receive an exemption. He comes from Zutphen in Gelderland every week with his butcher’s stall to Den Bosch. “I go to the big cities because I have more customers then. But in the region where I come from, I am not bothered by zero emission zones.” Although that thought makes him sad. “I’m afraid the market will soon be over. I do not want that either.”
Some market traders do qualify for an exemption. But concerns remain, because the exemption applies until 2027. “If I replace my diesel car with a petrol car, I am exempt. But I don’t see that as a temporary solution, but as an empty investment. I don’t want to spend money on a new car that I won’t be able to use a few years later. I think that’s a shame,” says Chris.
The market traders want the municipality to grant an exemption until 2030. “We hope that electric vans or trucks will be available by then. And preferably second-hand, so that we don’t have to invest tons of money,” says the owner of the Bossche cheese stall.
Seven local political parties are asking the city council to be lenient. “A third of market traders now fall outside this exemption. We want the municipality to also give those entrepreneurs the time to prepare for the environmental zone,” says Eddie Altenburg-Collin of the Bossche VVD. “As far as we are concerned, postponement does not mean adjustment. But the municipality must prevent the market from no longer existing in the future.”
