Houseboat dwellers near De Hurk and Eindhoven municipality have failed to come closer despite the involvement of a mediator. Eindhoven municipality now wants to try to find a solution to the impasse with the individual residents.
The municipality has been at loggerheads with the houseboat residents for years. Eindhoven wants the residents to move away from De Hurk industrial estate. The houseboat owners therefore wanted clarity on compensation. In the absence of such clarity, residents wanted to go to court.
This did not happen yet, but a second appeal against the zoning plan was lodged with the Council of State. On the first occasion, the municipality’s zoning plan, declaring the houseboats’ moorings illegal, was declared invalid by the Council of State.
Mediator
To reach a settlement with the residents in the headache case, the municipality engaged a mediator – an ‘independent’ lawyer – to assess the houseboat residents’ legal chances. The mediator’s analysis also took a long time, and once the report appeared, it turned out that the mediator did not dare to give an opinion on the residents’ litigation chances.
Uncertainty
This leaves the houseboat residents unclear about what will happen next. Eindhoven has therefore appointed a new mediator to talk to residents individually. The outcome should be known in the summer.
Administrative court ruling
At the same time, we are still waiting for a ruling from the administrative judge of the Council of State. If the Council of State approves the zoning plan, the municipality will terminate the lease of the berths. If at that time the individual residents have not reached an agreement with the municipality, they may take the matter to court, the council reports. The judge must then rule on possible compensation.
Should the administrative judge not approve the zoning plan, the municipal council must take a new position on the matter, the college said.
Source: Studio040
Translated by Simge Taşdemir
