“Brabant nights are long”, Eindhoven singer, Arie Ribbens*, sang back in 1990. 34 years later, the Eindhoven night is finally getting longer. The city council voted in favour of the plans to expand the nightlife on Tuesday evening.
With a large majority (33 – 7), the Eindhoven city council voted in favour of expanding the city’s nightlife. It is now possible for catering industry establishments to stay open longer and entrepreneurs will have more room for new initiatives inside and outside the city centre.
“Guus Meeuwis** (Dutch singer) once sang: I think of Brabant, because there the lights are still on’). With the adoption of the proposal, this will also apply to Eindhoven”, D66 (democrats) councillor, Annelies Becker, said on Tuesday evening.
Local residents
Only SP (socialist party), Ouderen Appèl (elderly appeal), 50Plus, Forum voor Democratie (forum for democracy) and LPF (list Pim Fortuyn) voted against the ‘Sharing The Vibes’ plan. According to Rudy Reker of LPF, the plan will only provide ‘fun for a few people’. SP councillor Murat Memiș: “We can only vote in favour if the voice of most local residents has been conveyed in the plan. Unfortunately, that is not the case”.
Jonas Roothans (PvdD, Partij voor de Dieren, party for the animals) referred to the same song that Becker mentioned. “Guus also sang about a city where people still sleep. And we’re going to keep a close eye on that”, the council member, about monitoring possible nuisance, said.
Accessible
Alderman Robert Strijk also embraced Becker’s proposal to take concrete measures for the accessibility of Eindhoven’s nightlife. For example, the Alderman indicated that he was already in talks with Eindhoven Toegankelijk (accessible), an organisation that works for people with disabilities.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
*Arie Ribbens made the song “Brabantse nachten zijn lang“. (Brabant nights are long) in 1980 and was and still is very popular, especially at Carnaval.
**Guus Meeuwis’ famous song ‘En denk ik aan Brabant, want daar brandt nog licht‘ (I think of Brabant because the lights are still on there) was made in 2003.
