Terneuzen council narrowly backs permit for asylum reception centre

Terneuzen’s council has narrowly voted in favour of a permit for an asylum reception centre in a former Neckermann building, after hours of debate. The decision revives a plan that the previous council had first supported and then rejected, according to an ANP report published by Nieuws.nl. The report does not give a vote tally. [1]

The municipality’s new executive, which took office after March’s elections, revised the proposal with the aim of improving social safety. The report does not specify what changed. Several opposition parties helped secure the majority, although some councillors from the governing TOP/Gemeentebelangen party voted against the permit. [1]

The PVV, Hart voor Terneuzen and Sociaal Terneuzen opposed the plan, arguing that its effects on social safety, traffic safety and liveability had not been sufficiently examined. Sociaal Terneuzen also questioned whether there would be enough security and other supervision. Alderman Robert-Jan Calon rejected what he called fearmongering, saying the plan was to accommodate 200 people in a municipality of 56,000. He said the intention was to house mainly families at the Neckermann site. [1]

Calon pointed to the existing emergency shelter in Terneuzen’s former library, where he said more than 100 people were housed and things were going well. That shelter is at a different location. About 15 people protested outside the town hall before the debate; some nearby residents said 200 asylum seekers would be too many beside a neighbourhood of roughly 170 people. [1]

Councillors also backed an amendment calling for future residents of the centre to be involved in society as soon as possible, including through work and education. [1]