There will not be an outright balloon ban in Eindhoven. From now on, however, residents and organisations will be actively discouraged from releasing balloons.
That is the outcome of a City Council debate about this subject. The Mayor and Councillors would like to see balloons banned, as they can cause damage to nature. “It is simply not desirable”, Councillor Rik Thijs reiterated on Tuesday evening.
Yet, he did not get enough support from the City Council. A narrow majority of VVD, CDA, LPF, Leefbaar Eindhoven, D66, and Ouderen Appèl members voted against the ban. The groups call the measure patronising and ineffective. There are also doubts about the size of the balloon problem.
Ban can’t be enforced
“A ban is like shooting at a mosquito with a cannon”, according to VVD Councillor, Jurie Boon. The CDA is also critical of the enforcement of such a ban. “We do not have the manpower to enforce this. No new rules without enforcement”, Remco van Dooren of the CDA group says.
The SP, GroenLinks, ChristenUnie, PvdA, 50Plus, and DENK parties are all in favour of a ban, but they conceded. A compromise was reached with those parties who vetoed the ban. This was done to prevent fewer balloons ending polluting the environment. Central to this is that the Municipality should discourage the use of balloons as much as possible.
For example, event organisers will now be actively informed about the consequences of releasing balloons. The Municipality will also see to it that organisers who want to release balloons, at least use ones made from biodegradable materials.
Source: www.studio040.nl
Translator: Bob
Editor: Melinda Walraven
