Man is a barrel full of contradictions. Nobody likes to be too fat, but many people would rather sit on the couch with a beer and a bag of chips than work up a sweat in the gym.
When it comes to housing, this often comes to light. Many residents of Drenthe appreciate the peace, greenery and space in their environment, a recent survey showed. At the same time, however, people from Drenthe often feel that they live too far from all kinds of facilities. And that public transport leaves much to be desired.
Pub, theater and station
It’s just like with the residents of the city center of Groningen. They are happy to have a pub, theater and railway station within walking distance, but at the same time you hear complaints that a parking space for their car is very expensive, if they can get one at all.
Deputy Yvonne Turenhout (PvdA) is therefore a brave woman because she takes care of the housing portfolio. Together with the municipalities, she will determine where in the province 13,000 houses should be built in the coming years. To this end, she also consults with the Citizens’ Council, a group of 150 residents composed by lottery.
Judoka
In the past, Turenhout was a judoka and she will need that experience to survive in this difficult file. Because not only do people have views on this that are difficult to reconcile, the subject also evokes a lot of emotions.
Everyone agrees that something must be done, if necessary with provisional measures, to prevent separated people from having to live on a campsite. Or that ‘young people’ still live with mom and dad at the age of thirty. But when the municipality of Assen came up with the plan to realize 150 flex homes on the Groene Dijk near Kloosterveen, the world was too small for a number of local residents.
No sensible person would begrudge the Ukrainians who fled war violence a good home. However, when the municipality of Midden-Drenthe in Elp wanted to house fifty of them in a former hotel, complaints were raised during an information meeting.
The Citizens’ Council is yet another attempt to involve residents more in provincial policy. A laudable goal, but unfortunately there is a misconception that the government should be ‘you ask, we deliver’. It is a balancing act for Turenhout and her fellow directors. They must take objections from residents seriously, but the trick is also to make it clear that we sometimes have to be somewhat accommodating in the public interest.
Tags: conflicting views housing deputy Yvonne Turenhout brave woman Column Hilbrand Polman
