Wieringerrandmeer

Last updated June 06, 2024

The Wieringerrandmeer or bordering lake of Wieringen was a project in the Dutch province of North Holland and the (former) municipalities of Wieringen and Wieringermeer. It planned to create islands and a bordering lake. The project was canceled in 2010 by the provincial and national governments.

History

Wieringen has been connected to the mainland since 1932 and is used, among other things, for housing and agriculture. In the mid-1990s, Wieringen initiated a project to restore its separate character by creating a bordering lake between North Holland and the polder of Wieringermeer. The authorities of North Holland agreed.

The Wieringerrandmeer was to be part of a series of lakes, including the Amstelmeer, the IJsselmeer and the Wadden Sea. It was intended to "boost economic and social development" by creating a recreational lake and stimulating business. The project's slogan was "the Experience of the lake."^[1]

Development

In 2003, the province of North Holland, the various municipalities, and the Water Board of the Netherlands published a contest for the development project. Five consortia attended. The winner Wirense consisted of Volker Wessels and Boskalis, which could participate in the project and take joint responsibility. The governments and the selected consortium drafted a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation. On March 5, 2007, the public-private partnership (PPP) between the government (provincial and municipal) and operators (Boskalis, Volker Wessels) for the construction of Wieringerrandmeer ended. Subsequently, the planning and preparations were processed in more detail. On December 19th, 2007, the executive of North Holland approved the project.

The project was approved by the Steering Committee Wieringerrandmeer: the province, municipalities, and Wirense group. The National Forest areas and the water board would be involved.

Planning

According to the original schedule, construction was scheduled to begin in summer 2010. It was expected to create the lake in five years, but all the work could last until around 2030.

Nature

With the construction of Wieringerrandmeer, continuity could be established between the IJsselmeer and Amstelmeer for forests, water bodies and reedbeds. This continuity of the provincial ecological structure, was called the Northern Arc.

Facts

The completed plan would include: a total area of 1600 hectares (ha), including 250 ha for housing; about 860 ha of water surface; over 400 ha of new nature and 128 ha of forest plantations.

Opposition and alternatives

Opponents of the project were concerned that the project would alter the region's water balance and adversely effect agricultural land, with thirty farms in Wieringen and Wieringermeer closing and many farmers forced to move away.

One June 27, 2008 The other Wieringerrandmeer presented an alternative plan developed by residents and farmers who were part of environmental organizations. They proposed reducing the area to be flooded, building fewer homes that would be located closer to the lake, and requiring fewer farms to relocate. Some luxury items, such as the creation of the Zuiderhaven lock between the Amstelmeer and the IJsselmeer, were removed. It concluded that it was unnecessary to build a large lake on the edge of North-Holland.

The final decision

On November 3, 2010 the Gedeputeerde staten of North Holland canceled the project for financial reasons; on November 15 the States-Provincial of the Netherlands confirmed the decision.

External links

Website van het Wieringerrandmeerproject (Archived 5 May 2010)

Related Research Articles

Flevoland is the twelfth and newest province of the Netherlands, established in 1986, when the southern and eastern Flevopolders, together with the Noordoostpolder, were merged into one provincial entity. It is in the centre of the country in the former Zuiderzee, which was turned into the freshwater IJsselmeer by the closure of the Afsluitdijk in 1932. Almost all of the land belonging to Flevoland was reclaimed in the 1950s and 1960s while splitting the Markermeer and Bordering lakes from the IJsselmeer. As to dry land, it is the smallest province of the Netherlands at 1,410 km² (540 sq mi), but not gross land as that includes much of the waters of the fresh water lakes (meres) mentioned.

ƒnam

The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km inland and at most 50 km wide, with an overall depth of about 4 to 5 metres (13–16 feet) and a coastline of about 300 km. It covered 5,000 km² (1,900 sq mi). Its name is Dutch for "southern sea", indicating that the name originates in Friesland, to the north of the Zuiderzee.

North Holland is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. As of January 2023, it had a population of about 2,952,000 and a total area of 4,092 km² (1,580 sq mi), of which 1,429 km² (552 sq mi) is water.

The Zuiderzee Works is a system of dams and dikes, land reclamation and water drainage work, which was the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century. The project involved the damming of the Zuiderzee, a large, shallow inlet of the North Sea, and the reclamation of land in the newly enclosed water using polders. Its main purposes are to improve flood protection and create additional land for agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zeewolde</span> Municipality in Flevoland, Netherlands

Zeewolde is a municipality and a town in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. It has a population of approximately 22,000 (2017). It is situated in the polder of Flevoland with the small lake called the Wolderwijd to the east. To the south is a large deciduous forest called the Horsterwold. The area to the west is principally agricultural.

Wieringen is part of the municipality of Hollands Kroon, established in 2012 in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It is a former municipality in this province, with its name appearing in records of the late 9th and early 10th century. From 1200 it was known as an island, also named Wieringen, which was separated by water from the mainland during one of the disastrous storm floods towards the end of the late Middle Ages that changed the coastline. By draining, dikes and landfill from 1924 to 1932, the island was rejoined to the mainland.

Wieringermeer is a former municipality and a polder in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Since 2012 Wieringermeer has been a part of the new municipality of Hollands Kroon.

The Afsluitdijk is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from Den Oever in North Holland province to the village of Zurich in Friesland province, over a length of 32 kilometres (20 mi) and a width of 90 metres (300 ft), at an initial height above Amsterdam Ordnance Datum of between 6.7 metres (22 ft) along the section at Friesland, and 7.4 metres (24 ft) where it crosses the deep channel of the Vlieter. The height at the greater sea depths west of Friesland was required to be a minimum of 7 metres everywhere when originally constructed.

On 17 April 1945, the retreating German occupying forces inundated the polder of Wieringermeer, the Netherlands.

Wieringerwerf is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Hollands Kroon, and lies about 21 kilometres (13 mi) southeast of Den Helder. It is situated in a polder. The elevation of the village is 4 metres (13 ft) below sea level. Dikes and pumping engines keep the land dry.

The Markerwaard is the name of a proposed, but never built, polder adjoining the IJsselmeer in the central Netherlands. Its construction would have resulted in the near-total reclamation of the Markermeer.

Creil is one of the ten so-called green villages (Dutch: groendorpen) in the Dutch province of Flevoland. It is a part of the municipality of Noordoostpolder, and lies about 6 km northwest of Emmeloord.

Oosterland is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Hollands Kroon, and lies about 17 kilometres (11 mi) southeast of Den Helder. From 1918 to 1923, Oosterland was the residence of the exiled German crown prince, Friedrich Wilhelm von Hohenzollern.

The Flevopolder is an island polder forming the bulk of Flevoland, a province of the Netherlands. Created by land reclamation, its northeastern part was drained in 1955 and the remainder—the southwest—in 1968.

The pilot Polder Andijk, or Test Polder Andijk, Proefpolder Andijk in Dutch, is a polder established in 1926 - 1927 in the Zuiderzee near the village of Andijk. The aim of this prototype is to study the embankments and agriculture for future polders in the Zuiderzee Works. In 1929, the pilot polder was inaugurated by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.

Amsteldiepdijk is a dike between Van Ewijcksluis and the island of Wieringen. It was built in 1924 and closes a portion of the Amsteldiep and of the Ulkediep.

In the Netherlands, the bordering lakes are a chain of lakes which separate the Flevopolder and Noordoostpolder from the ancient lands of the provinces of Gelderland, Utrecht, Overijssel and Friesland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marker Wadden</span> Artificial archipelago in the Netherlands

The Marker Wadden is an artificial archipelago under development in the Markermeer, a lake in the Netherlands. The first island was inaugurated on 24 September 2016. It is a nature reserve alternative to the much bigger proposed Markerwaard polder that was begun in 1941, but paused following World War II and finally canceled in 2003.

Land reclamation in the Netherlands has a long history. As early as in the 14th century, the first reclaimed land had been settled. Much of the modern land reclamation has been done as a part of the Zuiderzee Works since 1919.

References

↑ "Plan Wieringerrandmeer niet gepresenteerd". Archived from the original on 2010-12-21. Retrieved 2012-08-22.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Plan Wieringerrandmeer niet gepresenteerd". Archived from the original on 2010-12-21. Retrieved 2012-08-22.

[1]