Investigation of activists links Lutkemeerpolder with corruption provincial administrator Hooijmaijers
Why have activists chained themselves up?
Last week they saw that road plates were once again used for excavators that prepare the polder for construction even outside Osdorp. To plan that, about fifteen climate activists from Extinction Rebellion chained themselves to construction vehicles at the crack of dawn on Monday morning. The delay was short-lived. The activists were released by the police around noon.
Activists want to keep the Lutkemeerpolder green. They see opportunities for nature and urban agriculture on this fertile ground along the urban fringe. They want to wait for the municipal elections in the hope that a new city council will cancel the construction of a business park. They believe that this is an opportunity because Albert Heijn has dropped out and does not want to build a distribution center here. To raise a million euros through a crowdfunding action group Conservation Lutkemeer to buy the land. The fund of ours wants to contribute millions and the value of more than 4 million euros comes into view through Preservation. The activists are counting on the municipality to downgrade the land to agricultural land. As long as the Lutkemeer is considered a business park, the land will be in the books for a multiple of that amount. According to the latest standings, Behoud Lutkemeer has been promised 267,000 euros from 2,887 Amsterdammers.
Why have the activists settled in the past?
From 2013, former provincial administrator Ton Hooijmaijers was sentenced to 2 years and four months in prison for bribery, forgery and money laundering after payments he had accepted in exchange for statements by the province. According to the activists, little attention has been paid to project developers. The result of being influenced by Hooijmaijers was that in the past the municipality was unable to make a careful decision when planning the Lutkemeerpolder, argue the activists. They therefore insist that the future plans and the review are revised.
Incidentally, one of the project developers in the Lutkemeerpolder who gave Hooijmaijer’s money was indeed prosecuted, but acquitted. Preservation Lutkemeer stated the appeal is still pending.
What went wrong with the Lutkemeerpolder as a result of the Hooijmaijers case?
Hooijmaijers is said to have used his influence when Amsterdam transferred the land in 2008 to a development company in which the municipality is only one of the shareholders. The result was a complex construction of public and private interests in the development of the area, which, according to the activists, Hooijmaijers could benefit from. Consequences of the municipality It is no longer here that it is no longer harmless to say that Amsterdam has to be regarded as a business park. It also limits the control by the city council: when Albert Heijn was in the running for a distribution center, alderman Marieke van Doorninck (Spatial Development) was not allowed to mention the name of the company because this was agreed with the development company.
When there was little interest in the area, it would have lent a hand. For a long time, only companies with a clear link to Schiphol had to settle here, but they have come to lapse – at the insistence of Hooijmaijers, according to the researchers. This made the land attractive and more expensive for more companies.
Incidentally, these years were also banned from corruption. The researchers say that an opportunity was indeed missed in 2013. “This should have been discussed in the municipality,” says Jobien Monster, who as a lawyer advocates that the municipality consider the zoning plan. “But that’s not that it’s too late now.” Preservation Lutkemeer believes that the discussion should be repeated. “With today’s knowledge. Also in the field of climate change.”
Is the green of the Lutkemeerpolder too red if the previous history turned out to be contaminated?
That will have to be after the elections. Except for the millions involved and the following expansions, it is not easy to say goodbye to the construction plans. After all, the lack of industrial estate in the city has always been cited as the reason for building distribution centers here, also because many companies are making way for housing there.