Help us to preserve the Lutkemeer polder (near Amsterdam)
The municipality of Amsterdam wants to transform the beautiful green agricultural Lutkemeerpolder into a business park. We think that it is a crime, and that the climate cannot handle something like that. But there is hope: not one blade of grass has been cut yet. Please help to preserve the polder for us, for the generations after us, and for the falcons and the hares.
(By: Friends of the Lutkemeer, a Dutch version of this call can be found here)
Dear people, we have a big problem. Near Osdorp in Amsterdam lies the Lutkemeerpolder, an old farmland area of 45 hectares. The polder is also home to the organic arable farm De Boterbloem, which grows potatoes and all kinds of other vegetables and fruit on 11 hectares and where citizens are always welcome to help.
Since 2009, plans have been made by the Municipality of Amsterdam to demolish the entire polder and set up a business park there. The municipality of Amsterdam does this through SADC, the Schiphol Area Development Company, together with the gigantic Schiphol Airport. They try to ‘green wash’ their projects by claiming that they want to work ‘circular’. But in reality they sell the lots on the business park to every multinational that offers money. Their only argument is that cancellation of the project would cost money, but that’s not true either.
The Boterbloem refuses to close down and many local residents and sympathizers have spoken out in favour of the preservation of the entire polder, for example through the Platform Behoud Lutkemeer (‘Save Lutkemeer’). A beautiful alternative has also been drawn up: Plan Biopolder. (http://behoudlutkemeer.nl/biopolder/toekomstplan/) The city council of Amsterdam, led by the ‘green-left’ party GroenLinks and its alderman Marieke van Doorninck, seems determined to continue the absurd project for a business park. Part of the polder is now ‘occupied’ to prevent construction work from starting.
Of course, we hope that we can persuade ‘politicis’ and the corporate players to cancel the plans. Nothing has been built yet, so it’s still possible. Many times gigantic building plans at home and abroad have been cancelled because citizens have resisted them. Everyone is familiar with the telling examples, and it is in this tradition that we set out our actions.
The climate no longer allows such destruction of nature, and Amsterdam is desperate for more green areas, organic agriculture close to the city and opportunities for rest and recreation.
But even if the building plans were to continue and they would like to start filling the polder with building sand, the adversaries will resist. They will do everything to defend the polder and hope for your support and solidarity.
The expression of solidarity can also make a lot of difference at this stage when they still could take political decisions to revers the project. We therefore hope for support actions that will clearly reach the authorities in Amsterdam or their parties. Only when they find out that people all over the world know that they are planning to demolish our polder will they want to consider changing their policy.
Support the battle for the preservation of the Lutkemeerpolder! Defending the climate starts with the Lutkemeer!
Please send a message of any actions, banners, posters etc. http://behoudlutkemeer.nl
email: info@behoudlutkemeer.nl