Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops (right) speaking with the owner of a home at Bunny Ears Cactus Drive in Sucker Garden (centre) during a visit to St. Maarten on June 25, 2019. The house was to be rebuilt under the Private Home Repair Programme.
THE HAGUE--Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops, a member of the Christian-Democrat CDA party, was not only favoured with the purchase of land for his farm, he was also allowed to build a larger farm in violation of the rules.
In 2010, the aldermen of the municipality of Horst aan de Maas put aside a negative official advice to help the then Member of Parliament (MP), according to research by Dutch newspapers NRC Handelsblad and De Limburger. Knops is a former councillor of the Limburg municipality.
Last month it appeared that Knops had been favoured by an enterprise of the Limburg province in a land transaction for his farmhouse in Hegelsom, a village in the Horst aan de Maas municipality.
Under the deal, Knops received a permit for a 1,500-square-metre parcel of land, while other self-builders who followed the same procedure usually received permission for 1,000 square metres. While Knops was given more “residential land,” Knops only had to pay for 750 square metres at the notary.
Once Knops had purchased the plot of land, he could start building. Everyone in the municipality had to adhere to the rule that a new-built house in the outlying area should not exceed 1,000 cubic metres.
In the application that Knops made to the municipality to obtain a residential designation for his property, his house was designed at a volume of 1,000 cubic metres.
While this zoning-plan change (“the project decision”) was available for inspection, Knops submitted a sketch plan for his home to the municipality.
“The draft plan does not indicate the volume. We have heard verbally that the volume of the house is more than 1,000 cubic metres.” This meant that the house did “not comply with the building rules,” according to an official advisory note.
Civil servants of the municipality were of the opinion that Knops should comply with the requirements of the project decision and build a smaller house. After all, according to the advisory note, he also did not meet the criteria of the municipal policy to allow larger homes in the rural area – which, incidentally, was only ready in concept.
Municipal executives ignored this advice and adjusted the draft policy in Knops’ favour. The permitted volume of his home was extended to 1,250 cubic metres and two criteria in the draft policy, which Knops did not meet, were removed.
“As a result, these were no longer criteria by which initiatives, including that of the Knops family, had to be assessed,” the municipality stated.
Knops said in a written statement that he wanted to build a long-gable farm and that it required more volume. “Since the zoning plan had to be changed for this, I submitted a request, which was also discussed with the municipality.”
He said it was “common practice” among private individuals and entrepreneurs to ask for permission to be allowed to deviate from the zoning plan “for good reasons.” According to him, it is up to the mayor and aldermen to decide on such requests.
In a letter to the municipal council of Tuesday, June 16, Horst aan de Maas mayor Ryan Palmen of the conservative VVD party wrote that Knops’ application involved “an appropriate assessment, a carefully conducted spatial procedure and transparent decision-making.”
According to Palmen, there was “no favouritism for the Knops family,” but the officials who had drafted the advice had made a mistake. The Horst aan de Maas municipal council will meet on this subject on Tuesday evening, June 23.
