The cabinet gave the green light on Friday for the expansion plans of the Ministry of Defense. The armed forces want to reuse the site in Budel, which currently houses an asylum center, from 2028. There will also be a large ammunition depot in Staphorst.
Due to the geopolitical situation, the Ministry of Defense wants to expand significantly. This requires not only extra people, but also extra places to practice or store equipment. At the end of 2023, the Ministry of Defense started looking for suitable locations.
The ministry presented a list of preferred locations to the cabinet on Friday, which agreed. The final plan will be finalized at the end of this year.
One of the intended locations is the Nassau Dietz Barracks in Budel, Brabant. It currently houses an asylum center (azc), one of the largest in the country with fifteen hundred places. Next to Ter Apel it is also one of the places where asylum seekers await the start of their asylum procedure.
Due to the nuisance experienced around the asylum center, the plan was to phase out the location anyway. By 2028, a maximum of 960 people would be accommodated.
But in that year the contract of the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) expires, and the Ministry of Defense wants to reuse the former barracks from then on. This means that the COA must look for a new location.
Ammunition Storage in Staphorst and Kollumerwaard
The Ministry of Defense also wants to open a new ammunition depot and has set its sights on Staphorst. That is the best option, says Defense, because it can expand an existing storage facility here. That location also has the least impact on local residents, compared to other options.
As a result of this expansion, four houses are still in the so-called ‘safety zone’, which means that these people would have to leave. The Ministry of Defense says it is still investigating whether and how these homes can be spared.
Ammunition will also be stored in Kollumerwaard-West, but there is material that could be deployed quickly abroad in the event of war. That is at the request of NATO.
Nitrogen Crisis Makes Search Difficult
The nitrogen crisis could still throw a spanner in the works in the Ministry of Defense’s search for new locations. Because many army bases are in or near protected nature reserves, expansion is not always possible.
For example, the Ministry of Defense must look for nitrogen space to expand the shooting range near Elburg (Veluwe) and to be able to fly more at Deelen airbase (also Veluwe) and Woensdrecht airbase (Noord-Brabant).
Work is currently underway on a law that makes exceptions to limiting nitrogen emissions possible for the army. This would allow nature permits for the armed forces to be granted more quickly.
Expanding the defense locations not only affects nature, but also local residents. In the search for new places, the Ministry of Defense says it has “heavily considered” that the effect on local residents is as small as possible. But they cannot escape extra noise and in some cases people have to leave their homes.
If the Ministry of Defense reuses the site of the asylum center in Budel, a nearby house and company house must disappear. Around the intended barracks on the Spiekweg in Zeewolde, this concerns about nine homes. The expansion of the De Haar training area in Drenthe is at the expense of two agricultural companies.
Uncertainty Surrounding F-35 in Lelystad
Thirteen homes and businesses around Lelystad Airport may also have to give way to the expansion plans of the Ministry of Defense. The armed forces want to park new F-35 aircraft here, it emerged last week.
It remains to be seen whether this will go ahead. In exchange for the use for F-35 aircraft, the cabinet would also allow civil aviation at Lelystad Airport. But there is still no agreement on this within the coalition.
At the same time, the province of Flevoland has threatened to oppose the parking of F-35s if civil aviation does not go ahead.