About eleven park residents have been staying on Pitch B at Yn'e Lijte in Grou for years. The fact that they have to leave to make way for new chalets is a shock to them.
Recreational visitors, often from outside Friesland, have a great time in Beekmar Park. “I really enjoy relaxing here,” says park resident Harry De Rooij. “In the evening the bats fly.”
Like Elie and Ton van de Kieft, he came to Groo from North Holland on Tuesday to talk about the sudden termination of the lease. Field B is a stand-alone recreational field and is not part of the water park.
Usually they come here to enjoy themselves, but now there is frustration and dissatisfaction. Only when it comes to birds does everyone have a smile on their faces. “Oh, owls,” Eli van de Kieft sighs. “We see the older birds teaching their young chirps to fly. You can almost touch them sometimes.
“Preserve nature”
The leisure area with capacity for fourteen chalets was taken over in December by the De Vries family of Grou. They say that nature conservation is taken into account in the 22 new sustainable chalets that will be built. “For the reorganization, some low-lying plants will have to be removed, but for this purpose the green areas will be restored with new trees and plants.”
Park resident Fred Berends describes the turn of events as “unimaginable.” He and his wife paid the training fees at the end of March. “We knew there were plans to build more chalets, so we thought correctly about this bill: it was not a worrying sign. Now the whole place is being cleared.”
“He was a parent”
“It's very painful,” says Bas van den Bosch. Since he was 10 years old, his parents have rented a place at the recreational playground. Two years ago, Van den Bosch heard that the place his parents owned was becoming available. “We adopted it immediately.”
In addition to emotions, it is also about finances. Van den Bosch invested about 25,000 euros. The Van de Kefts chalet costs more than 30 thousand euros. “It's a big noose,” says Ton van de Kift. “We have nowhere else to go. This chalet is twenty years old. In many places, a chalet might not be that old.
Van de Kieft calls it a national trend. “Small parks are being taken over everywhere. There are few people who will make a great living here and there are no longer any vacation spots for ordinary people.
“Resistance to the utmost”
Vacationers have united. “We will resist to the maximum,” says Berends. While there was little contact between entertainers at first, a WhatsApp group and email list have now been established. “In that respect it fraternizes.” Eli: “We are fighters.”
The group has now contacted three lawyers. Van den Bosch: “The note used to cancel the lease was very clumsy.” For example, house rules state that rent must be canceled before November 1st. “But they will do it at the end of March. This is all wrong.
“I realize this is their land,” says Van den Bosch. “We're trying to be practical, but we have a lot of emotions about this.” There is a family that has been recreating here for over thirty years. Van der Kift: “They are in shock. We asked them if they would also like to share their story. Specifically because they have been here for a long time. But they are too emotional for that.”
“Create unity”
“We understand that it is very unfortunate that they can no longer stay,” the De Vries owners responded. But we want to create unity. Draw a line and don't make any exceptions.
However, residents of the old park will be given priority in purchasing a chalet including land and a financial discount. More information about prices will become clear at the end of this month.
