K3Delta – the company responsible for sand mining in Eenil USA – has been approved by the Noordenveld municipal council to proceed with sand mining expansion. Various council units also did not object to the expansion.
K3Delta has been mining sand in the United States for over forty years. Sand is used among other things for houses in the northern Netherlands. At present, sand is mined in an area of 10 hectares. The intention is to expand the K3Delta site from 10 to 30 hectares.
Eventually the site will have room for a mountain bike trail and tiny houses. Also, 12 hectares of new nature will be created. Noordenveld is positive on municipal projects.
For example, Councilor Bertus Jan Epema (PvdA/GroenLinks) mentioned this. “Nobody’s really against sand mining. There are concerns about other activities at the site, legal or not. But that’s not what we’re about.”
In this regard, the residents of the area expressed their concern about the safety and monitoring of the sand extraction site. They are often ‘uninvited guests’ seen walking in and around the site, mainly in the evenings.
It is these uninvited guests that currently make it impossible for the Dijk family to build three holiday homes on the site. The family, co-owners of the land, submitted a plan for these houses to the municipality of Noordenveld. Councilor Robert Meijer (VVD) does not want this at the moment because he fears additional uninvited guests on the site. Along with the houses there is a ‘cut through to the main road’.
Meijer also sees a ‘greater risk’ of illegal swimmers if houses are located on the east side of the site. “Already there is illegal swimming, we know,” the councilor said. “People have drowned or nearly drowned in the past. Allowing this increases the risk.” He also notes that there is an agreement with the owner of the nearby Ronostrand that no entertainment is allowed in the area.
In the long term, the municipality wants to think about the Dijk family’s plan. But for this to happen, the work of dredging the new lake must go ‘well’.
The municipal council will decide on the expansion of the sand mining lake next Wednesday.
