Marcel Oosterveer is visually impaired. This did not stop him from becoming mayor of Waalre a year ago. Indeed, under his leadership, peace seems to have returned to the municipality. Politically, but also in the town hall, the atmosphere is more relaxed.
“Administratively, it was unsettled. Everyone knows that. So there was a need to make a start on a new era. The final piece or the beginning piece – it depends how you look at it – was my appointment. That was also what I said: “we know what happened, but we are now going to look forward.'”
Oosterveer is hearing from the village, but also from the region, that it is “just very quiet in Waalre. This doesn’t mean, by the way, that we don’t challenge each other. But we challenge each other in a healthy way. The peace has returned.”
Oosterveer certainly does not want to downplay his role in this, but neither does he want to exaggerate it. “The municipality needed the mayor to exude calm. Not a rooster at the forefront, but someone who brings parties together. A connector. Someone who can listen well. A mayor in the right sense of the word.”
Living room
Waalre lies within the large Brainport area and in the past there have been some suggestions that the municipality should join Eindhoven.Oosterveer, however, does not see this as an option: “Waalre is actually like your own living room, a place to relax. Waalre is not where you go to work and give your all”. According to Oosterveer, Waalre is a very important part of the chain in which residents place their trust.
“In my opinion, we need a municipality that is close to the people.So I think the raison d’être of a municipality is not ‘we have to be merged because it is more efficient’. No, we need to look at our residents, who need to express their opinions and see that they are being listened to. Hence I also think the discussion about Waalre being too small is nonsense.”
Building
The Municipality of Waalre is a lot smaller than his previous employer. Yet there are also major problems in Waalre, just like in Eindhoven. “For example, if I want to build a school, a primary or a secondary school, the first question is whether I can and may do this”, Oosterveer says. “I might be able to build that school, but then I won’t have the electricity”. It’s not simple.
“Moreover, Waalre has a challenge when it comes to affordable housing”, the Mayor says. “We cannot build that at the moment. We are ‘stuck.’ Accommodation must be found not only for Waalre residents. Refugees and asylum seekers cannot end up on the streets either. “About a year and a half ago, Waalre took responsibility for sheltering these people. And if this is necessary again, we will do this again”.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
