Newsletter December 2019

ONE RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION FOR MEERHOVEN

(C) Ronald Otter

We are proud to present the first newsletter from Residents’ Association Meerhoven! Through this medium we want to keep all residents of Meerhoven informed of what’s going on in the neighbourhood. This in addition to the news that is distributed via Meerhoven.nl and our social media. The newsletter appears on average once a quarter and is delivered to all 4,500 households in Meerhoven. In this edition, ample attention is paid to the new association and the developments around municipal heating.

Residents’ Association Grasrijk, Neighbourhood Association Waterrijk and Neighbourhood Association Zand-, Bos- and Meerijk continue together. “By joining forces in a single Residents’ Association Meerhoven, we can act more decisively and efficiently. All the more so because the number of volunteers is limited and there is an increasing demand for them,” says chairman Ruben Trieling.

Goals
Representation of interests and the promotion of contacts between residents are the most important objectives of the association. A good, pleasant and safe living environment is also high on the agenda. Important themes are traffic, municipal heating, the shopping center, security and internationalization. Geert van Buul (secretary): “We also try to support residents in organizing activities. For example, by making materials available, arranging permits or making a financial contribution in the form of a subsidy.”

Committees and partners
To ensure that everything runs smoothly, various committees have been set up, including the liveability, activities and communication committees. The association also has close contacts with the municipality, police and other partners such as the Terminal M shopping center and Dynamo Youth Work.

Board
Residents’ Association Meerhoven now has an interim board consisting of Ruben Trieling (chairman), Geert van Buul (secretary), Jos Hendriks (treasurer), Marianne van Dorenmalen and Veronica van der Biezen. The board members come from all over Meerhoven and have been active as a volunteer for quite some time. During the first General Meeting in February 2020, the board is elected for the coming years. Residents who want to make an active contribution within the board or a committee can register via a .

BECOME A MEMBER!
Residents’ Association Meerhoven is for all residents of Meerhoven. The more members, the better we can represent the neighbourhood. As a member you also decide on the themes we should focus on. The membership costs only € 5 per household per year. With your contribution we can start collective actions or legal proceedings. You also support initiatives such as this newsletter, Meerhoven.nl, Sustainable Meerhoven, the Neighbourhood Watch Meerhoven, the Meerhoven Internationals Platform, the Children’s Holiday Week Meerhoven, Municipal Heating Foundation Eindhoven, street activities, events and much more. Not a member yet? Then register now via www.meerhoven.nl/membership.

DISCORIJK GREAT SUCCESS

The first edition of Discorijk was a great success. The joint initiative of Dynamo Youth Wotk and Residents’ Association Meerhoven attracted no fewer than 175 enthusiastic young people between 10 and 13 years old.

Monique Kuijten from Dynamo Youth Work proudly looks back on the event: “A group of 26 young event planners organized this disco all by themselves. They have met for weeks in different committees. From clothing, sponsoring, catering, arranging music, shopping and devising activities: these organizers have arranged everything themselves.”

Successful
The atmosphere was good throughout the evening. There was plenty of dancing, drinking lemonade and making videos to put on TikTok. One of the young people summed it up: “This is so much fun: next time we will come again and ask the whole class to come along”. In short, a successful event that is worth to be organized again.

Youth Center
Youth Center De Hanger organizes various social, cultural and educational activities such as sewing lessons, babysitting courses, tech playgrounds, reallife Fornite, self-defense, make-up, dance, rap/producing workshops, neighbourhood heroes, Youtubevlogg, sports, teen disco and much more more. Look for more info on the Facebook page of Youth Cente De Hangar.

ZANGRIJK

Meerhoven has its own singing choir that rehearses every Thursday from 10 am to noon in the canteen of football club DBS under the direction of conductor Caroline Chamboné. The choir now has more than 40 members. The repertoire is easily accessible and consists of beautiful canons and pop/folk/ballads. New choir members are very welcome. For more information, visit www.zangrijk.nl.

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH MEERHOVEN

Do you want to make sure that our neighbourhood is safer and feels safer together with local residents? Then sign up with the Neighbourhood Watch Meerhoven. The team currently consists of around forty residents who regularly supervise in Meerhoven. They can be recognized by their yellow vests with the (Dutch) text “buurtpreventie” (neighbourhood watch).

Participate
The Neighbourhood Watch supports the municipality and the police by reporting irregularities. The team also has a preventive effect. After all, in a neighbourhood where there is regular supervision, a burglar feels less at home. Participating only costs a few hours a month and is also a fun way to get to know other local residents. To emphasize the presence of the Neighbourhood Watch, signs with the text “buurtpreventie” (neighbourhood watch) will soon be placed on all access roads of Meerhoven.

Interested?
Send an e-mail without obligation to . Coordinators Kitty van der Leij and John Tops will contact you.

LOCAL POLICE OFFICER

Since this summer, Erwin van Melis has been the local police officer of Meerhoven. His task includes connecting citizens with the police. Sounds general, but Erwin means it quite literally: “My motto is: the citizens are the eyes and ears of the police. Every suspicious situation that is reported can sometimes resolved a crime. So the more phone calls or e-mails, the better. If you encounter a suspicious or urgent situation that immediately requires the presence of the police, call 112. If there is no immediate danger, call 0900 8844. If you want to bring a problem to my attention (afterwards), send an e-mail to or call 0900 8844 and leave a call-back request.”

Erwin was previously a local police officer in Stratum for 10 years. He then went to the criminal investigation department. And now he is active in Meerhoven. Erwin works 32 hours a week, of which 80% for Meerhoven. He works together with Residents’ Association Meerhoven, the Neigbourhood Watch Meerhoven, the municipality and Dynamo Youth Work.

COLLECTIVE ACTION MUNICIPAL HEATING

Municipal Heating Foundation Eindhoven has been fighting for years against unjustified costs for municipal heating. The foundation recently went to court on behalf of a large group of residents to put an end to these costs.

It is about energy company Ennatuurlijk that supplies heat in Grasrijk, Zandrijk and Eindhoven center. According to the foundation, Ennatuurlijk charges various costs that have not been agreed with residents. For example, most households pay a “connection fee” of around € 150 per year for 30 years. This while the connection costs have already been paid during the construction of the house.
In addition, Ennatuurlijk also charges other costs that have not been agreed with residents. In total it is around € 450 per year per household.

Trial process
At the initiative of the foundation, a trial process was started in 2012 for three households in Meerhoven. The residents own a home that they have built themselves. At the end of last year, the Supreme Court ruled that Ennatuurlijk wrongly charged the annual connection fee to these residents. In the meantime, Ennatuurlijk has reimbursed the annual connection fees already paid and the annual connection fee is no longer charged to them. This year, the foundation has made efforts to achieve the same result for other self-builders. And that was successful for most self-builders. They, too, have received the paid annual connection fees (around € 1000 to € 3000 per household) and no longer pay a connection fee.

Collective action
Ennatuurlijk refuses to make an arrangement for owners of a project home and for tenants. That is why the foundation started a collective action for this group of residents and recently went to court. Just like in the trial process, the foundation first focuses on the annual connection fee. The process is expected to take at least another year.

Sign in!
Most residents in Zandrijk, Grasrijk and Eindhoven center have now joined the collective action of the foundation. If you have not registered yet, then we strongly recommend to register. Otherwise you might regret it later. In addition, the more residents participate, the more decisively the foundation can act. Register via www.stadsverwarming-eindhoven.nl. Please note: the collective action does not apply to households that purchase heat from the municipality of Eindhoven, such as in the neighbourhoods Meerrijk and Waterrijk.

SHORT NEWS

Plastic waste
Waste processing company Cure is going to increase the capacity for collecting plastic waste in Meerhoven by placing a press in the underground containers. An electrical connection must be made for this. When the press is installed is unknown.

New busline
Due to the new construction in Meerhoven and Veldhoven, the traffic on bus line 403 between Veldhoven and Eindhoven is increasing. In order to cope with this growth, line 103 has been introduced from 15 December. Between De Dom stop in Veldhoven and Eindhoven Station (and vice versa) the bus follows the same route as line 403 and stops at the same stops.

Police complex on Land Forum
The municipality and the police have plans for the realization of a large police complex on the Land Forum business park in Meerhoven. This includes the accommodation of around 1250 police officers. For more information, visit www.meerhoven.nl/landforum.
Residents’ Association Meerhoven keeps a close eye on developments.

Black rats
Residents in Meerhoven are increasingly experiencing nuisance from black rats. In the winter, natural food runs out and rats start looking for alternatives, such as waste and food for birds and hobby animals. Make sure that rats cannot reach this. Do you see rats on your own property or in public space? Then always report this to the municipality. If desired, you will receive a home visit from an adviser at the KAD, the knowledge and advice center for animal pests from Wageningen, for a free control and prevention advice. For more information, visit www.meerhoven.nl/ratten (in Dutch).

Share car
At the Grasbloem/Grasland corner a parking space has been reserved for a Greenwheels shared car. The car can be rented by anyone with a subscription for long and short journeys of at least 15 minutes. With a shared car you save costs for your own car and you no longer have to worry about insurance or maintenance. Do you want to use the shared car or do you want more information? Then visit www.greenwheels.nl. If you have any questions, send an e-mail to .

Fireworks waste: clean it up!
Many fireworks accidents happen on New Year’s Day and often children are involved. During the day they look for firework residues and try to light them again, with all the consequences that entails. Clean up the firework waste as much as possible immediately, both the flares and the residual paper from fireworks. Be alert for waste that has not yet cooled; smoldering waste is often the cause of fire in a container. Put the cooled firework waste in the gray container. If everyone contributes, we can together ensure a clean and safe neighbourhood on New Year’s Day.

Latest news
For the latest news and activities, visit www.meerhoven.nl, the MeerhovenApp (meerhoven.nl/meerhovenapp), Facebook Meerhoven.news or Twitter Meerhoven_news. You can also find a lot of info on Facebook “Meerhoven Ontmoet” and Facebook Meerhoven Internationals.

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

COLOPHON

This newsletter is a publication of Residents’ Association Meerhoven.

Date: December 2019
Copies: 5000
Design:
Contact: , www.meerhoven.nl