Amsterdam news roundup | May 2019

 Here’s a local news roundup for Amsterdam this month …

Scooters have been banned from Amsterdam cycle paths since 8 April, but in practice very few scooters have moved onto the road. And now, Amsterdam traffic enforcers may write fines based on license plate data of scooter (or moped) riders when they continue to ride on the cycle path. Initially, the idea was that the enforcers first had to ‘stop the moped riders’ but now they can also write fines based on a photo of the offending vehicle’s license plate. So, from Monday 3 June offenders can expect a fine of €95, and twelve enforcement officers have been assigned to this on Amsterdam streets. Only when it is not possible to stop the scooters, can the fines be written out based on the license plate data.

So far, more than 11,000 people in Amsterdam have supported a petition asking for Amsterdam’s metro to run at night. At the moment, travelers can only take the metro between 6 a.m. and 12 a.m. A student who lives in Reigersbos wants to change that and has started an online petition on the campaigning website, petitie.nl. According to the student, people ‘at the periphery of the city’ are currently economically disadvantaged due to the lack of a nocturnal metro. The petition can be found here: https://petities.nl/petitions/nachtmetro-in-amsterdam?locale=en

The municipality wants to ban Airbnb in some neighborhoods, bring in strict rules for b&bs and houseboats, crack down on illegal flat-sharing and put a quota on shared housing, to ensure ‘family homes are kept for families’. Every four years the city adopts a housing policy which covers rules on the use of a home in Amsterdam and the Commission uses this update to record its intentions and plans on housing. Amsterdam will have the option to prohibit holiday rentals through Airbnb, Booking (or any other platform) in certain neighborhoods, if it can be demonstrated that the quality of life in those neighborhoods is under pressure due to over-tourism. Initially they are suggesting a ban on Airbnb rentals in Haarlemmerbuurt, Kinkerbuurt and the Red Light District, but more neighbourhoods could follow. Amsterdammers who run a bed & breakfast will face stricter rules, including the need to obtain a permit, and in some neighborhoods b&b quotas will be introduced. And houseboat owners may no longer rent out their house to tourists for more than 30 days a year.

As reported by Dutchnews .nl Amsterdam city council has published plans to ban all but electric cars from the city by 2030 in a move that officials hope will extend locals’ life expectancy by three months. Amsterdammers, says alderman Sharon Dijksma, have their lives cut short by one year because of airborne pollution. The most effective way to change this, she said, is to bring in emissions-free transport. (For more on this story see Dutchnews.nl.)

A group of Amsterdam parents have successfully objected to an increase in the costs of their daycare. According to the interest group, Boink, that has never happened before in the Netherlands. Daycare centre Mijn Blokje, which has five branches in Amsterdam West and Nieuwe West, wanted to increase the hourly rate of the daycare by almost one euro on 1 January, to €8.59 – more than the government suggested price €8.02. The parent committee of the branch on the Baarsjesweg asked Mijn Blokje for reasons for the increase, but received no response. Willem Bekkema, father of two children at the daycare centre, and member of the parent committee, submitted a 40-page document to protest against the rise and now the Dutch childcare disputes committee has ruled in favour of their complaint. The daycare centre needs to explain better why the price rise is necessary. Until then, the old price will apply. The daycare centre now intends to provide better reasoning and bring in the price rise as planned. As reported by Het Parool, Bekkema says he hopes that other parents will also stand up to daycare providers on rising costs, if necessary, saying: “With most parents, it is the second largest cost item per month.”

Amsterdam homes are the least affordable in Europe, with buyers needing to pay 22 times the city’s residents’ average disposable income for a flat or house, according to research by Moody’s Investment Service. The average price paid for a home in Amsterdam was €423,000 last year. Homes in the Dutch capital grew in value by 63.6%, even though incomes rose by just 4.4%. (For more on this story see Dutchnews.nl.)

Noordkust (meaning North Coast), which should become the new city beach on the Oranjewerf in Noord, has been delayed due to a complication with the license application. A new application will be submitted shortly and it will be opened in late summer, if the new application is approved. Nadia Duinker, who also owns the Roest city beach in Oost is in charge of the new initiative. Local residents have been are critical about the plans for a new city beach. They fear noise pollution, safety problems and believe the supply route, which runs mainly through the Nieuwendammerdijk, too narrow. Many local residents are also afraid that the entrepreneurs want to turn it into a festival site. They may not be wrong, according to Het Parool newspaper, in addition to a catering establishment, Duinker planned to organise a small-scale neighborhood party at the new Noordkust on King’s Day as well as the Vrijland Festival which celebrates bevrijdingsdag, Liberation Day.

The Grand Prix will take place on May 3, 2020 in in Zandvoort, aka Amsterdam beach | The FOM has made a three-year commitment to F1 racing in Zandvoort, plus a two-year option.

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Sources: Het Parool / AT5 / NLtimes.nl / Dutchnews.nl.