The Geldrop-Mierlo city council has given the green light to a support package for residents and organisations that have run into problems due to rising prices. “We can’t wait and see what ‘The Hague’ does”, he said.
During a debate on Tuesday night, there appeared to be plenty of support for a purchasing power plan from the city council of CDA (christian democrats), DPM and DGG (local parties). The college wants to release nearly €1,000,000 for this. Eight tons is for households that can barely make ends meet due to inflation. Just under two tons will go to social organisations, which will have more chance to come around with this.
Intervention
“This local approach for 2023 is necessary, we think. It should prevent many residents from getting into debt. Or that foundations go under. What The Hague (Dutch national government) is doing with all kinds of compensation measures is not enough. We need to intervene now to prevent worse”, Alderman Peter Looijmans explained.
Reach
That story resonated with the city council. The eight parties support the plan. However, they do question whether the residents, for whom the support package is intended, will be reached. “It is now not always easy for many people to find the right information on the municipal website. With that, the threshold is still too high”, Monique van de Stolpe, of the Samen (together) group explains.
CDA, VVD (people’s party for freedom and democracy), GroenLinks (green left party) and D66 (democrats) of Geldrop-Mierlo share those concerns. “We have to make sure that we can find the people who might need this support. Also, residents must be able to find us. Another communication campaign is therefore needed”, Esther Gruintjes, of D66, says. “People need to know that they are eligible for aid”, Amber van Eersel, of GroenLinks, adds. Emma Vrijberg also points to new ways of communicating. “We also need to use social media”.
Entrepreneurs
DPM and CDA wondered why there are no local support measures for entrepreneurs in Geldrop-Mierlo. “They also suffer a lot from inflation”, Irene Neele-Janssen said. According to Looijmans, this is a conscious choice. “The need among citizens and social organisations is the highest”.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
