The provincial elections will be held on March 15. Thus, the board of the province of North Brabant is elected. The elections can therefore have a great deal of influence on several Eindhoven themes. Silvester Klaasman summarises the views of the various parties with respect to the development of the Brainport region.
Almost all parties agree that the Brainport region is of great importance to North Brabant. But there is less consensus on how to deal with the tight housing market and the mobility problems caused by the enormous growth that the region is experiencing.
The VVD believes North Brabant should become ‘the undisputed leader in Europe’ in innovation. The province must also focus on the arrival of a factory for chip production. In addition, the party advocates significant investments in local universities. In addition, the province must dare to invest in ‘promising, risk-bearing projects’.
Forum for Democracy says that Brainport’s current top position must be maintained. While Local Brabant also believes that the current collaboration between the business community, the province, and the national government should continue to innovate together.
Closing the gap
Other parties want more attention to the social side of the story. According to GroenLinks, attention should be paid to tackling the gap in society, and extra investments in housing, mobility, and social cohesion are badly needed. The business community must also take responsibility in this regard. D66 also believes that the business community should pull together with the government to finance the region’s increase in scale. The PvdA has announced that it wants to receive more money from The Hague and Brussels to fund growth.
Investing in sports and culture
BBB also wants attention to housing, and young people and the elderly should not be forgotten. Brainport also needs to invest more in sports facilities and culture – also for the benefit of expats in the region. The party also wants more energy to be generated in Eindhoven itself and more attention to greenery and biodiversity in the region. That would be far behind in the Brainport region.
The SP and PvdD are the most conservative when it comes to business in Southeast Brabant. The arrival of expats is a thorn in the opinion of the Socialist Party (SP). The knowledge workers ‘seize’ housing and cause price increases. North Brabant should, therefore, not attract employment for which there are no people.
‘Prestige Projects’
The Party for the Animals is even more pessimistic about the Brainport region. “Education and science are of great importance, but that is possible without a prestigious project like the Brainport,” said the party.
Source: Studio040
Translate: Ayşenur Kuran
