The newly formed municipal coalition in Ridderkerk presented its governance agreement on Wednesday, outlining plans to prioritize local residents for housing and allow shop owners to open on Sundays after two months of negotiations.
The alliance, consisting of Partij 18PLUS, VVD, and GroenLinks, aims to construct at least 1,000 new homes during the upcoming council term by partially transforming industrial estates into residential zones.
Housing and Energy Goals
"There is a great need for affordable owner-occupied homes and mid-priced rental homes for different target groups in Ridderkerk.
We want to build for starters, seniors and people moving up the housing ladder," said Timo Ringlever, floor leader of VVD Ridderkerk.
The coalition intends to expedite the energy transition and resolve grid congestion to ensure new properties receive adequate electricity connections while continuing a local housing allocation model.
"In addition, we find it important that there is a mix of different homes.
There is a high demand for smaller apartments and studios, for example," said Björn Ros, floor leader of GroenLinks Ridderkerk.
The accord states that houses offered through the allocation instrument must be reserved for local house hunters to the maximum extent.
Safety measures include expanding local enforcement officers (boas), penalizing parents of repeat youth weapon offenders, and retaining the local police station on Kievitsweg.
To bypass localized asylum seeker reception quotas under the Spreidingswet, the parties plan to trade their statutory asylum allocation with other municipalities by taking in a larger portion of displaced individuals from Ukraine instead.
"Ridderkerk already has an involved Ukrainian community.
As a society, we have proven well able to integrate Ukrainians and let them participate in Ridderkerk society.
In addition, a large part works in the AGF logistics at Dutch Fresh Port.
This also offers opportunities for a larger group of displaced persons from Ukraine," said Henk van Os, floor leader of Partij 18PLUS.
The document notes that if the trade-off arrangement fails, the coalition will only implement the federal Spreidingswet requirements if formally compelled by the minister.
Economic plans include reducing administrative burdens for companies and supporting Sunday shopping, while local fiscal pressures will see the executive board trimmed from five aldermen down to four.
The council will debate the accord on Monday evening, July 13, during an extra meeting where alderman candidates Henk van Os, Fleur Stip, Edward Piena, and Björn Ros will be nominated.
The coalition partners will then submit a joint initiative proposal on Tuesday, July 14, to legalize Sunday shopping, with a final council vote scheduled for the first meeting after the summer recess.
