Protest for student houses in Kronenburg: 'Schiphol is inviolable'
Dozens of students demonstrated last Tuesday in favor of the construction of 2,500 student houses in Amstelveen's Kronenburg neighborhood. 'Rents in Amsterdam are a consequence of bad neoliberal policy.'
'Schiphol is the naughtiest boy in the class that can never do anything wrong,' shouts ASVA president Bor van Zeeland on the square in front of student campus Uilenstede. His listeners react approvingly. Promptly he invents a slogan: 'Schiphol, the inviolable one!' followed by the rousing phrase: 'Hee hee, hoo hoo, Schiphol has got to go,' and the now familiar mantra: 'Students over Schiphol.'
The airport is clearly the big culprit in this new housing protest by student union ASVA, the Free University Students Union (SRVU) and the Communist Youth Movement. The reason is the attitude of Minister of Infrastructure Mark Harbers. Even though a parliamentary motion in favor of this project passed and a previous housing protest was held, he has yet to take any major steps to build the 2,500 new student houses in nearby Kronenburg.
Initially, the Amstelveen municipality had even planned 4,000 student homes in the neighborhood, but the Council of State put a stop to that in mid-May after Minister Harbers went to the administrative law department.
Noise pollution
According to the minister, building new student housing near Schiphol would violate the Aviation Act. This is because "noise pollution and the risk of accidents are greater there than in other zones," a spokesman for the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate explained earlier.
The students at this housing protest strongly disagree. "I saw how close the planes flew over the buildings at Uilenstede and the noise was noticeable outside," acknowledges Business Administration student Jacob Kravitz, "but there is no logical reason to ban buildings of the same height in Kronenburg now. Especially not in the midst of a housing crisis." Incidentally, it is very quiet on the Uilenstede campus today. Just one condensation trail from an overhead plane can be seen in the sky.
Minister Harbers is prioritizing Schiphol over student housing, according to former SRVU president Pieter van Rossum, one of the speakers at the housing protest. "Although everyone knows that the rents in Amsterdam are a natural disaster," he says emphatically.
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Swampy area
Housing and Spatial Planning Minister Hugo de Jonge also had to take issue with those present. "I would like to call on Minister de Jonge to reconsider his priorities," Floris van der Valk says solemnly. He is chairman of the Amsterdam branch of the Young Democrats, a youth party affiliated with D66. “De Jonge should place more value on the interests of students,” he believes.
Moments later, the march begins as planned. Under the watchful eye of a police van, the protesters proceed south before stopping at a swampy, vacant lot. "Welcome to Kronenburg," ASVA president Van Zeeland says jokingly. The terrain in question reminds the crowd - which uses English as its official language - of a swamp. At times, students' shoes slowly disappear into the soggy field. For former SRVU president Pieter van Rossum, reason to create a new slogan: "Students over swamp!
