What does your party stand for?

D66 stands for closing the gap between people and politics. In the past four years, large projects have been started by the current municipal administration. Lots of high-rise construction was planned such as at Kijkduin and Scheveningen.

One proposal from the Alderman for Building and Living, Marnix Norder (PvdA), was to build a cruise terminal that extends out into the North Sea. He thought that all of the cruise ships from the western hemisphere would land at Scheveningen, the passengers would have a lot of fun and then go away again. But he didn’t think about the other cruise terminals in the Netherlands.

Rotterdam has only 18 cruise ships visiting it a year and Amsterdam has about 100. To build this cruise terminal at Scheveningen, about 1200 houses needed to be built on reclaimed land in the North Sea. That was going to cost a fortune. And, it would also change the look of the beach and the entire environment. Not only were we at D66, but also a lot of residents were against it. During the planning proposal, opponents demonstrated at the City Hall, wrote partitions and did everything they could do to make themselves be heard. Nothing happened.

Now there has been a change in the political climate and Alderman Norder has stepped back from his idiotic plan. People were getting disillusioned about the way our politicians were listening to them. There were a lot of angry people whose voices were being ignored.

D66 as an opposition party, were getting frustrated as well, it was like there was a Berlin wall around this current municipal coalition. So we came up with a plan of how to make future project planning go more smoothly in the future. It is unfair to the people to say you can only speak out once every four years and in the years between, you must be silent.

We also have strong standpoints on schooling. We have a plan for investing 100 million euros in education over the next four years. The schools themselves should become a central focus point for our communities. A place where parents can bring their child in the morning, the child is then taken care of after school in gym or sport or study sessions, while parents are at work. A caretaker should be employed at every school too. Someone who opens the door in the morning - knows the name of the kids, and makes the school more human.

Some people associate Expats only with profit, employment and opportunity. Does your party?

No we don’t. There are some Expats (the happy few), who are employed by wealthy embassies or organisations, but there are also international people employed by less wealthy organisations and some have a lower salary than the Dutch. You cannot say that all Expats are rich people. They want the same things as you or I, a good house, good school for their kids, recreation areas for biking or walking and perhaps some culture and entertainment. The only difference is that many Expats only stay for a few years then leave, but they also just want a regular healthy environment.

How can The Hague be included on the HSL line?

The Hague missed the opportunity a few years ago when the HSL plans were finalised and the line was built. The Alderman for Traffic, Bruno Bruins from the VVD somehow lost the battle to have The Hague included, and Rotterdam won. It is a pity and stupid I think. The Hague not only has a lot of international organisations but it is also the seat of parliament for the entire country. The connection to Brussels for our Euro parliamentarians would be so easy but now they have to go to Rotterdam first and change trains.
It is a kind of slap in the face to the parliamentarians. I still think we should have the city included in the future, but it is going to cost money.

Another strange piece of planning regarding transport links, is the now named Hague/Rotterdam Airport. There is no direct connection between The Hague and the Airport. If you don’t have a car you must take a train to Rotterdam and then take one of the buses that leave Rotterdam four times an hour. It will take you twice as long than going to Schiphol Airport. Also the Randstadrail line between The Hague and Rotterdam, bypasses the Rotterdam/Hague Airport by two or three hundred metres. The VVD Alderman for traffic at the time somehow managed to forget to add to the plans a little detour in the rails so it stopped at the airport. I really hope we can fix that in the future. I am going to try.

Who is your greatest opposition?

At the moment, it is the three parties in the coalition. The PvdA, VVD and Groenlinks. Not because they are horrible people, but because they formed a kind of Berlin Wall around themselves and until a couple of months ago, you could never get through it. As I said, it is not the people, but the way they dealt with people and the rules and regulations. That makes them our greatest opposition.

After the 3 March election, so far in the polls, the PvdA, D66, VVD and the right-wing PVV are all close together. All are about the same size. I don’t know what will happen, we can only promote our own ideas, which are not based on lashing out at other people or other parties. We look to the future and trust people in the city, no matter what their race or religion is and we can work together.

What are the issues that you believe Expats care deeply about?

I think Expats are just normal people. They want a good affordable house in an area that they like. They want quality schools close to where they live and are able to go out and enjoy themselves. Some parties want to cut the budget that is going to culture, so that will be interesting to see what happens. I believe we all need these things. That is one of the reasons we live in a city, not in the countryside.

We also want the shops to stay open on Sunday, because it brings life to the city. One key thing for Expats is that more public information, which is relevant to international people, should be translated into English. The official documentation from City Hall should have a website link where it is written in English. It should not be translated into dozens of languages. Because people who live here, either speak Dutch, or in the case of Expats, English.

What are your dreams for the city over the next five years?

I see a city where people live in an environment that is as sustainable as possible, where people are strong enough to live the way they want to live and not be judged by others because they are different. Live and let live a bit more, allow more self-expression and don’t be so fanatical about cutting down others who standout.

Another of our aims is that a lot of office buildings are empty because of the recession. We should open up these spaces to creative artists for example for a fraction of the cost and ensure the atmosphere of the city is booming. I don’t want the city to become closed after five, where everyone sits at home looking out from behind their curtains.

Residents should feel free to be outside visiting places, walking on the beach, drinking coffee on the terraces going to the movies. We want more of an environment that feels welcoming.

On a broader spectrum outside of city politics, we also think Europe is one big country and people should be free to travel. Cities should not be insulated and Europeans should focus more on their strengths rather than our differences.

We also feel it is important that people, visiting our city, no matter who they are, feel welcome.

By Andrew Balcombe

More information on the Municipal elections can be found in our Election Special section.
 

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