2023 Budget Statement: This is what FlorAalsmeer thinks
The motto in the Aalsmeer municipal coat of arms reads: retine quod habes. This means "keep what you have." The municipal website states that this could apply to the windmills and special monuments in the village. Each and every one of them is a building with eternal value. FlorAalsmeer finds this explanation too limited and believes the motto encompasses much more than the preceding two sentences suggest.
To preserve what you have, you first need to know what you have. Last week, the council held a working session on the environmental vision as part of the Environmental Act, which will take effect on January 1st. During this session, we were asked what characterized Aalsmeer/Kudelstaart. It's a complex question to answer quickly, but it's necessary to understand what you have now and what you want Aalsmeer/Kudelstaart to look like in 20-30 years.
Green, water, activity, community spirit—just a few words used there. A healthy living environment, space to live, abundant greenery, and efficient use of available space for the future.
Aalsmeer and Kudelstaart are two villages and together form a single municipality. We'd like to keep it that way. However, this presents a significant challenge given the plans from the Metropolitan Area (MRA) and everything that flows from the Environmental Act. When we listen to residents, we hear virtually no one who wants to be part of a metropolis. And yet, our villages are being swallowed up by it. Residents already feel as if we're part of Amstelveen. And we completely understand that feeling. Take, for example, the discussion surrounding "Buitenveen." A very unfortunate name for the construction project in the Oosteinderdriehoek. We fully support the residents' desire to call this neighborhood Farregat, to immediately remove the name Buitenveen, and to have the signs updated.
Reactions surrounding this topic, among others, reveal the lack of trust among residents. The municipal executive was supposed to address this, but the promised baseline measurement has yet to materialize. As you know, the municipal executive wants to increase trust in local government. Therefore, in early 2023, residents were supposed to be asked their views on municipal policy and participation as a baseline measurement. This question would then be asked again at the end of 2025, with the goal of achieving an improved rating. Unfortunately, we don't see any mention of this in the municipal executive's plans, and our question is: when will the baseline measurement take place?
Returning to the Amsterdam metropolitan area, of which Aalsmeer and Kudelstaart are part, we are concerned about the developments. We are repeatedly assured that municipal councils will remain in charge of their own territory, but at the same time, the Environmental Act, which takes effect on January 1st, teaches us that the executive board will only gain more powers. The council's primary task will be oversight, and during a working session on the Environmental Act, it was made clear to us that we—like virtually all municipalities in the Netherlands—are not good at this. In fact, we are not implementing it, and given regional developments in the coming decades, FlorAalsmeer is deeply concerned about this.
An example of this is the Westeinderscheg, which includes the Drechtdoorsteek (Drecht Through the Drecht). For the latter, the council once commissioned a joint investigation with two neighboring municipalities to explore the possibilities. After completing the investigation in 2018, the council was only informed, not asked to make a decision. However, the investigation continues to this day, and the province has since taken over this project as part of the Westeinderscheg. As you know, we asked the portfolio holder who decided in mid-2021 that the Drechtdoorsteek is part of the Westeinderscheg and why this decision was not presented to the council. We have withdrawn the amendment to discontinue the investigation into the Drechtdoorsteek, and we will consider a possible motion after receiving the answers to our questions. Furthermore, we have read that the Westeinderscheg involves major developments around the pond (Westeinderplassen); recreational beaches, etc., on the southwest flank, which will further strain the infrastructure around Kudelstaart and Aalsmeer. Unfortunately, there is a lot of uncertainty about this, and we ask the board to provide clarity by involving the council more effectively and more frequently in these developments.
Finally, we'd like to mention Fort Kudelstaart. The €800,000 budgeted for 2024 is nowhere to be found. Together with the €770,000 budgeted for 2023, this amounts to over €1.5 million, of which the municipal executive hopes to recoup around €400,000 through provincial subsidies. None of this is in the budget. Perhaps we overlooked it, but if not, we hope this money is being, or has been, repurposed. Since January of this year, we've been waiting for a proposal from the municipal executive following the Council of State's ruling. And no, we're under no illusions about this matter; after all, the coalition has already decided in advance to agree to any plans. It's incomprehensible that, while this is perfectly normal in the business world, revising decisions taken is a no-go here in the municipal executive. Phrases like "that entrepreneur must be able to continue (it's just one, what are we doing for the other 3,500?)" or "it's already taking so long" are not substantiated arguments for this plan to proceed. Unfortunately, facts and arguments are ignored, and there is no critical attitude or public discussion, contrary to what D66 stated in their argument last year. No matter how long it takes, and how much money it costs the community, the plan must go ahead.
There will be a lot coming our way in the coming years, and FlorAalsmeer expresses the wish that we deal collectively and responsibly with what we have in order to preserve it.
Aalsmeer and Kudelstaart have a very rich history, dating back many centuries. The once-important municipalities on stagecoach routes, the battle against the water, theand A century of entrepreneurial spirit, peat cutting, strawberry cultivation, and flower and plant cultivation all contribute to what Aalsmeer and Kudelstaart are today. Beautiful villages in strategic locations. Preserving what you have is more than just the windmills and unique monuments in the village. It's what we are together, and especially what we want to remain together. And FlorAalsmeer is proud of that.
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