In Amstelveen the housing crisis for students is taking an interesting turn. The student housing complex Uilenstede is very close to the runway of Schiphol airport. Student live there about a ten minute walk from the university. Next to it Amstelveen wants to redevelop an area and create new 2.500 homes for students, Kronenburg. As students can be found living on the street or couch surfing from one place to another there is no discussion about he need of extra houses for them.
The problem is that the area is directly under the runway. Yes, there will be noise from airplanes, but as long as you are under thirty it is very unlikely to have a negative effect on your health later in life., according the the health services.
Everybody agrees that this is a good solution, except the Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport {ILT} (Inspection of living environment and transport). They say: ‘No!, based on the building restrictions around Schiphol airport. Kronenburg is in a Zone 4 area according the Luchthavenindelingbesluit Schiphol. This means there are restrictions on what you can build there for reasons of safety, like noise and crashing airplanes. Short stay is allowed in the area, so you can build a hotel….
End of story for this project? No, they went to the highest court to settle the issue with the ILT February 15, 2022.
To support the court case and get extra attention for the student housing problem. The student unions SRVU and ASVA marched together with the CJB against student homelessness. Along the way squatters joined the protest. Wind and rain doesn’t stop them to improve the housing situation for their fellow and future students.
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