Government - The Blue City

On this page you will find information about the realization of a mega-project in the Oldambt, concerning housing tourism and recreation, called The Blue City (Dutch: De Blauwe Stad). The realization of this project has started on the 10th of November 2001 and has to be finished in the year 2016. The plan will cost about 785 million euro and it will improve the employment in the Oldambt both temporarily and in the long run.

De metamorphosis of the Oldambt
Information

In retrospect

On April 21st 1997, deputy Gerard Beukema finally spoke the historical words "'t Gait deur", (It will happen) during a press conference in the town hall of Winschoten. He was referring to the realization of The Blue City, the plan by Wim Haasken, civil servant at the ministry of agriculture in Groningen, and his friend architect J. Timmer from Scheemda. The project, which is seen as a miracle cure to stop the negative development in the Oldambt, will be executed for 35%.  This historical day will be noted in the history books as the day on which a start was made with the strengthening of the economical and tourist situation in this economically weak area. The result will be a substantial increase in employment rates and the negative image of the area will be affected in a positive way. 

Environments Het Dorp and De Wei

The developers of the plan, deputy Gerard Beukema and Roel Vos, the director of the Foundation Blue City (Stichting Blauwe Stad), have crossed the country for years to raise enough money for the realization of the project. The municipalities of Scheemda, Reiderland and Winschoten are very pleased with the execution of the project. The municipalities now have to give shape to the project unanimously and start the realization of this immense development for the Oldambt. The tourist aspects of the project are very well linked to other projects which have already been started , like the improvement of the channels in East-Groningen.

The plans

Bounded by the villages Midwolda, Oostwold, Beerta, Finsterwolde and Winschoten, a big 2,000 acre lake will be constructed. The average water depth of the lake will be around four feet. Surrounding the lake, 500 acres has been reserved for infrastructure, 1,480 houses of modern architecture and for recreation areas. Another 875 acres has been reserved for nature development. The mainly agricultural function of the area will be turned into a more tourist like character. The stronger qualities of the Oldambt, like peace and quiet, space, fresh air, relatively inexpensive housing and land and finally good transportation to the rest of the country, Germany and the Scandinavian countries, will be used.  The execution of the mega-project was started on the10th of November, 2001, by the planting of the first area of forrest on the south-side of the Blue City area. This forest at the waterfront will become 67 acres big and will be used for recreation and housing development.

Map of the Blue City

The entire project will cost around 785 million euro. Of this amount, 31.8 million will be covered by the government, of which 3.27 million will be covered by the local authorities. A consortium of building companies, consisting of Ballast Nedam Bouwborg BV, BAM Vastgoed en Geveke Bouw BV will cover the remaining sum. The consortium will take care of the building of houses. The purchase of land and the cost of infrastructure has to be financed by the sale of building-parcels and the amount the authorities supply. The remaining sum is to cover the building costs of housing. There is already a lot of interest in the houses, the cheapest of which will cost about 300,000 euro's and the most expensive around 750,000 euro's. The first show houses will be ready in 2006. In 2005 the sale of houses will commence. The aim is the highest section of the regional market.

Government and industry

On November 7th, 2001, the provincial government of Groningen has approved of the plans for the Blue City. Earlier the local governments of the three municipalities had already approved of the plans. The plans for the Blue City are therefore permanent now. The three municipalities that are involved, Scheemda, Reiderland en Winschoten have founded a new organisation: "the Communal Arrangement Blue City". In this way the inhabitants of the area have to deal with a single organization to apply for planning permits and subsidies. The consortium has formed the development company Blauwe Stad CV. In the execution of the project the municipalities work together with the province and the district water board.  For this purpose the Blauwe Stad BV is started. This company has a new office on the Jaarfkelaan 1 in Winschoten. This centre consist of offices and an educational centre with, among others, a permanent exhibition, a large model and a video space. It is a place where people, who are interested in the project Blue City and the Oldambt, can meet and get information about all the possibilities the project has to offer.

Office the Bleu City

On January 14th 2004, the groundworks were officially started, as well as the construction of dikes and roads, etcetera. This work, which has been put to tender for € 13,290,000, has in the mean time been completed. In an 18 month period, the building contractors Martens/Van Oord and Oosterhout/Holman dug off 4.5 cubic metres of soil and reused this soil to make islands and dikes. The dikes and shores are protected by stones, and/or embankments. The idea is that at the end of 2006 the lake will be finished. The construction of the access roads to the Blauwe Stad and the roads within the area has now commenced. The building of the housing in the area is thought to take about 8 years. 

The project Blauwe Stad has started

After years of talking, finally an important moment in the history of the Oldambt has occurred. On Saturday November 10th, 2001, at 12:00h the mega project The Blauwe Stad has started officially. The first tree was planted for the development of a 67 acre forest at the south-end of the Blauwe stad area.  Farmer Steentjes from Oostwold, as a representative of all the farmers, together with deputy Marc Calon and provincial governor Hans Alders were the lucky ones who initiated the metamorphosis of the Oldambt. After this event, many inhabitants from the Blauwe Stad area, who were all invited, together with politics started planting the first area of forest.

Start of the project

The initial resistance to the project seemed to have disappeared almost completely. Only three pamphlets against the project were attached to the trees. The construction of the lake was put out to tender in August 2003. It is expected that the whole project will be finished by the year 2014. We hope and expect that the project will give the population what it has been waiting for, for such a long time, which is more employment and a positive image of this beautiful area that has characteristics that are slowly becoming scarce in the Netherlands.

Informatiecentrum Blauwestad  Elfenbank 100 9685 ED Blauwestad The Netherlands E-mail: info@deblauwestad.nl URL: www.deblauwestad.nl

Questions or critics should be directed to info@midwolda.nl.
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Last modified: augustus 17, 2010