Amsterdam news roundup | July-August 2019

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

750 of Amsterdam’s 850 important bridges do not meet legal requirements | The same can be said of about 200 kilometers of quay walls in the city. As Het Parool newspaper reports, the Commission has said the detailed mapping of the entire area will take at least six years. The repair operations of the bridges and quays will be colossal and will probably take many decades. An amount of €200m has now been released to cover the costs, up to and including 2023. Experts say that this will be a drop in the ocean. According to Alderman Sharon Dijksma, it’s not just about restoring the city’s vulnerable bridges and quays, but their future use will also have to be critically examined.

The provincial government of Noord-Holland has said in its coalition agreement that it plans to extend the Noord/Zuidlijn, in Amsterdam, to Purmerend and Zaandam, according to Het Parool newspaper. Amsterdam alderman, Sharon Dijksma, is already trying to extend it to Schiphol and now, Noord-Holland wants to extend the Noord/Zuidlijn in the other direction, as well. A study into these options will now take place.

Publiek Omroep Amsterdam (POA), which includes AT5, will continue to provide local news on radio, TV and online for the next five years, Het Parool newspaper reports. This means that the future of the local news channel, AT5, and the accompanying annual subsidy of €2.9m euros, is secured until 2024. This decision comes as a disappointment for competiting bid from newcomer, C-Amsterdam. Back in the spring a committee of experts ruled that C-Amsterdam had better plans for implementing the local news provision than AT5. C-Amsterdam planned to bring more diversity to the local media provision, and wanted to position reporters in every city district in order to spread the news more evenly about the city. Alderman Touria Meliani said of the decision, “The Commission believes that in the interest of the city and the continuity of independent reporting, it is currently best to keep the broadcast concession with the current local broadcaster and not to opt for a radical and risky change.” However POA director, John Olivieira, recognised that the broadcaster (which includes AT5, Salto public access channels and FunX) cannot continue as before and that there will be some improvements.

Construction at Schiphol has been delayed again, so the new A-terminal will be delivered later than predicted, after 2023. As reported by Het Parool newspaper, Schiphol airport confirms that the new terminal will take at least 3.5 years and a new building plan is being made.

With the centre of Amsterdam seeing a reduction in car traffic, it’s the opposite for the Kattenburgerstraat, leading up to Pakhuis de Zwijger. Nearby residents are not happy about it, according to Het Parool newspaper. Leading from the Marineterrein, past some 1960s blocks and up towards Piet Heinkade, this access road is considerably busier since cars are no longer allowed to drive past Central Station. Also, the tunnel under the train tracks is to be assigned to cars exclusively – the current two lanes, one going into the city, and one out of it, will be doubled. This means the cycle and pedestrian paths will move to a tunnel which is to be built a few metres to the east of the national monument, the Mariniersbrug.

Amsterdam is eager to build new windmills | Around Amsterdam there will be room for new wind turbines – for example at Westpoort and the Noorder IJplas, but also at the Science Park and the Gaasperplas. The province of Noord-Holland had previsiously prevented this from happening, but with a new provincial government this has changed. The province now makes a distinction between the Amsterdam region, where there is a lot of support for wind energy, and the rest of Noord-Holland. Around the Noorder-IJplas, the wind turbines are combined with floating solar panels and a large battery, combining wind and solar energy in one place.

NB Ever wanted to be a news reader? We’re looking for volunteer news correspondents for online and radio. Get in touch with us at info@broadcastamsterdam.nl.

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