The Dutch island of Texel is a popular travel destination, also with German tourists. But there is discontent on the island. The reason is extreme noise pollution – now the case has ended up in court.
Holidays by the sea without a long journey. People from North Rhine-Westphalia in particular are often drawn to the Netherlands and the associated islands. A popular holiday destination is the island of Texel. But there, both locals and tourists are currently struggling with extreme noise pollution. The reason: extreme noise.
But if you think of loud tourists or crowds partying, you’re wrong. Because the origin of the anger lies somewhere else.
North Sea vacationers irritated by the noise from the military training area
As the Dutch online portal “nhnieuws.nl” reports, the noise comes from the island of Vlieland, north of Texel. The Dutch Air Force’s military training area “De Vliehors” is located there, which plays a very relevant role within NATO due to its location on the North Sea.
When the Dutch Air Force conducts training flights, it gets loud. And not just over the province of Friesland, from where the jets take off, but also over Vlieland and on Texel.
And it could get worse. Because the Ministry of Defense would like to move the exercise targets to the southern tip of the Vliehors for security reasons. This is due to an incident in 2013 in which the control tower on Vliehors was accidentally fired on instead of the practice targets.
“People will soon no longer be able to understand each other”
But this fact is not the only reason for dissatisfaction. Piet Standaar, spokesman for the protest initiative against the relocation plans, explains: “The new F35 fighter jets also generate five times more noise than the current F16.” And that has enormous consequences for the people on Texel. Especially for the residents of the northern tip of the island.
“People will soon no longer be able to understand each other. The residents cannot yet estimate what the consequences would have been otherwise. The noise could have been heard as far away as De Koog,” rumbles Standaar.
Locals feared that the noise could go to extremes with the new plans and went to court. With success. The objections of the residents were granted in all points, so that the relocation process now has to be repeated.
Protesters make a counter-proposal because of extreme noise
The protesters emphasize that they are not generally opposed to the air force exercises. However, you want to protect both the locals and tourists from enormous noise pollution.
The counter-suggestion: The fighter jets could arrive from the North Sea, but also depart in the same direction. The targets would thus be set down on the North Sea side.
“Then you have relatively little or no inconvenience,” says Standaar. “At least much less than is currently planned.” It remains to be seen whether the Ministry of Defense will agree to this proposal. In any case, it would be good news for both local tourism and the residents themselves.
By Paulina Meissner (mei)