Heritage watchdog the Henri van Abbe Foundation wonders whether the preservation of buildings representing cultural-historical value is getting the attention it needs. The foundation concludes that it is getting more and more difficult to guard the Eindhoven heritage.
The foundation reaches this conclusion because the Eindhoven municipality no longer facilitates the heritage watchdog who previously had early access to planning permit applications.
“The municipality used to give us the opportunity to see the applications at an early stage This enabled us to monitor the developments in the area of cultural-historical heritage and, if necessary, have some say in the process”, says Jos Hüsken of the Van Abbe Foundation.
This early access possibility has ended, however. “Privacy regulations have been more sharply defined which means that the municipality has to make sections of particular documents illegible before others can see them. This requires too much time from civil servants. This means we only learn about certain developments when the application has already been granted. That puts us at a disadvantage”, says Hüsken.
Pilot
The Eindhoven municipality says the procedure concerned a pilot where interest groups such as the Van Abbe Foundation could react to applications during the process. At the moment, the municipality says, it is looking into possibilities to continue the approach used so far, on condition that the new privacy regulations can be safeguarded.
Hüsken has a slightly different view on the matter. “They call it a pilot but it was an agreement on between us and the municipality. The civil servant who was chiefly responsible in this matter left, and then everything changed”.
From scratch
“The Van Abbe Foundation is concerned about this condition, taking the future expansion into consideration”, says chairperson Wilbert Seuren. “During consultation procedures residents can explain their ideal picture when it comes to urban development, but elements that should be preserved from a cultural-historical point of view are easily overlooked. Certain things should be defined in advance”, says Seuren.
“The municipality now gets complaints that residents’ opinions are not getting sufficient attention, whereas this complaint can be prevented. It is all becoming more complicated because a foundation like ours cannot give its feedback earlier”.
Consultation
Seuren does understand the pressure the municipalities and building corporations face. “We also want houses to be built. We also have children or grandchildren who cannot find a house. But we must ensure that Eindhoven retains its character; that people can continue to recognise the city”.
Decay
An example is the old cigar factory on Vestdijk. It is a monument that is not kept in good repair by its owner, the municipality, days Seuren. “It is such a shame that a building is decaying. It cannot be hard to find a good use for it, it could easily become a workshop, for example. The municipality now wants to sell the building. Now that it has decayed, however, this is only becoming more difficult. It is handling things the wrong way round.”
Seuren does wish to emphasise that many things are going well. “Take for example the development of De Caai, where much industrial heritage has been preserved, which pleased us very much. We do have regular discussions, and these are always constructive, but at the same time we notice that certain problems are not solved”.
Participation
The municipality says that with construction projects the proper legal procedures are followed. “It goes without saying that residents should be able to voice their opinions about a particular development. It forms part of the participation policy of the environment and planning law. Interest groups can also participate in the process.”
“With every spacial planning we make a decision which parties need to ve consulted actively. The Eindhoven heritage foundations always have the opportunity to learn what had been applied for and what has been granted and they can attend the sessions of the advisory committee for the quality of the environment”, says the Eindhoven municipality.
