Civil servants were against, but GroenLinks aldermen Van Doorninck and Meliani wanted the new theater of the Meervaart to be built in the Sloterplas at all costs. The bank of the lake must also become ‘the new hotspot of Amsterdam’.
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This is contained in confidential documents that data analyst Nico van Gog has managed to obtain and which are also in the possession of AT5.
These are the minutes of a meeting of top civil servants of Alderman for Spatial Planning, Marieke van Doorninck (GroenLinks). The ‘Space and Sustainability MT’ will meet in a Zoom meeting on 12 May this year. Although Van Doorninck’s staff actually wants construction to take place on the spot where the Meervaart is now located, that view is tilting. From the report: ‘At the end of 2019, a steering group consisting of aldermen Van Doorninck and Meliani indicated that it had a preference for’ an icon ‘in the Sloterplas.’
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‘In the Committee’s view, the location on the site of the current Meervaart is the most sensible’
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Documents show that the aldermen want an ‘icon’ in the Sloterplas
This is striking because at the end of 2019, two critical advice about building on water also ended up on the councilors’ desks. There are warnings against damage to the greenery, for the adverse spatial effects and for the high and difficult to control construction costs. One of the recommendations therefore concludes that the ‘the wisest thing is’ to build the new theater on the spot at Osdorpplein where the Meervaart is already located.
That conclusion is not reflected as such in the summary sent to the council by alderman Van Doorninck. Only after council members ask for it, do they see the integral advice just before the decisive meeting in which the construction site is designated.
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Nieuwe Meervaart in the Sloterplas
‘In the coming years, commitment and budget should be arranged for the entire bank’
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‘If we start building in the pond, then we will show how’, the report says. In May, the officials enthusiastically took up the task of the aldermen. A construction sum of 80 million euros is then taken into account, while the counter for the entire project has now reached 111 million euros.
And the officials shouldn’t stop there: ‘In the coming years, commitment and budget should be arranged for the entire bank. This is a great opportunity for the area to become the new Hotspot of Amsterdam. ‘
Van Gog has a sour feeling about it. According to him, the aldermen told ‘half a truth’, the decision-making has so far been undemocratic and he fears that more green will die. ‘What I understand about it, it will be a kind of amusement park in an amusement park.’
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‘This will be a kind of amusement park in an amusement park’
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Data analyst Nico Van Gog
In a joint response, aldermen Van Doorninck and Meliani say that the Nieuwe Meervaart will give the southwest bank of the Sloterplas ‘a boost’. According to them, the building fits in with the further area development of the Osdorpplein and for future plans the following applies: ‘Naturally, we carefully consider how they relate to the main green structure.’
Van Doorninck and Meliani also repeat that building at the current location is not possible because the Meervaart will then have to be closed for a longer period of time. According to the municipality, there is no suitable, temporary alternative accommodation. After the move, a hotel can be built on the spot where the Meervaart is now.
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Building on the old site is not possible, according to the city council
