residents association -organisation

Update on proposal for

Activities in the Archipelbuurt

in cooperation

with the Tong Tong Foundation

Two representatives from the Foundation, who are organising the 2012 Tong Tong Fair on the Malieveld from 17 May through 28 May, attended the A&W Community Council meeting on 29 September. They came to elucidate their proposal for the organisation of related themed activities in the neighbourhood in May 2012. For example batik weaving in Balistraat and dance demonstrations in Sumatrastraat. As with the recent Poet in Residence event, residents would also be asked to allow some of the events to take place in their homes. Those present were favourably disposed to the idea.

The Foundation will contact the secretariat again at the beginning of 2012 to develop ideas further, when possible options are clearer and more is known about what means the Tong Tong Foundation will have at its disposal. Dick Nijzink if the City Council voiced his support for such initiatives.

A number of locals have already registered their interest in taking part. If you would like to be involved in some way contact the A&W Residents Association:

secretariaat@archipelwillemspark.nl

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Cooperation between Archipel & WIllemspark

and

the Tong Tong Foundation?

The Tong Tong Foundation (oldest Indonesian cultural organisation in the Netherlands) would like to work together with our neighbourhood to organise an Indisch/Indonesian programme in Archipelbuurt & Willemspark to run concurrently with the Tong Tong Fair from 17 May - 28 May 2012. The organising committee of the Tong Tong Festival (formerly Pasar Malam Besar) was located in our district for more than thirty years: first in Delistraat and then for many years in Celebesstraat. Chairperson Ellen Derksen still lives here. Next year the foundation would like to play a more active role in the Archipelbuurt.

For example to organise a particular event in each street named after an island or place in the East Indies Archipelago. A weaving or batik making demonstration for example, or a (literary) recital of a particular author’s work or an interview in someone’s living room or a traditional dance performance or a display of costumes on temporary podiums or in homes [ed. or perhaps even in local businesses like the boutique Babs & Lizeth on Bankastraat: Lizeth was born on Sumatra]. This is of course only possible if enough residents (in enough different streets) are willing to give their support to such a plan.

To wet your appetite you might find the foundation’s Haags-Indische literary walk interesting, which starts at the bus stop on Bankastraat! The walk takes in Nassauplein where Louis Couperus lived from 1878-1884; Javastraat where the Couperus Museum is located; Surinamestraat where Couperus lived at number 20 and a bust of him stands in the central garden area; Sophialaan where Multatuli (pseudonym of Eduard Douwes Dekker former civil servant in Indonesia) stayed with his elder brother; and Plein 1813 where Couperus’ parents-in-law lived and where writer P.A. Daum located some of his characters in his book Indische mensen in Holland.

The board of the A&W Residents Association welcomes such a joint initiative. What do the residents think about realising such a joint undertaking? And who would like to be actively involved or participate?

Please send your reactions to the A&W Residents Association <secretariaat@archipelwillemspark.nl>

Future Panorama City District - Centrum
Discussion evening on council’s vision for 2012-2015

Klokhuis Community Centre

Celebesstraat 4
Monday 5 September
7 pm – 10 pm

On behalf of the municipal council’s central city district, Wybren Meijer, Thijs Turel, Saskia Bol and Ruben Polderman of Futureconsult (a faciltating group that helps organisations anticipate the future with the involvement of all stakeholders), are holding a series of discussion evenings in various neighbourhoods constituting this particular city district.

First on the agenda is Archipel/Willemspark.

The Centrum city district is working on its future strategy (Toekomstvisie) for 2012 – 2015. It contains important agreements about what the city district wants to do in the coming four years. Things concerning the quality of life (e.g. the environment, green areas, streets and recreation), general well-being, social services, sport, participation and culture. The goals for the four-year period and the implementation plan for each year are all listed: matters that could have important consequences for you and Archipel&Willemspark.

What do you think?
But first it’s over to you: to give your view of the situation in your neighbourhood. Do you have ideas or certain wishes? Are there any particular points you want to draw attention to? Has everything been covered? Pass it on! You can also indicate which specific matters you think need immediate attention in 2012.

Programme city district discussion evening - Centrum (Archipel/Willemspark)

19:00 Doors open
19:30 Discussion points

• What consequences could current trends have on your neighbourhood?

• What opportunities are open to organisations working in the neighborhood and how will they be affected?

• What are the positive and negative consequences?

• What action can organizations take to prevent any negative effects and what can they do to encourage positive outcomes?

• What concrete steps can be agreed on for the 2012 implementation plan and the City District Strategy?

22:00 Conclusion

A&W board’s response to official review of subsidy proposal for community organisations

The introduction of a transitional year, the assurance that the council’s subsidy proposal is not an attempt to get economic cuts in through the back door and some other adjustments has clearly alleviated the A&W Residents Association board's worries somewhat.

Assessment criteria for the subsidy request procedure remain pretty vague however and any extra subsidies, besides the basic one, bring with them considerable administrative burdens. This means that the current administrative support is even more crucial for the continuity and for accessibility of the Residents Association.

The committee intends to retain the current system of a maximum of two terms of four years for committee members rather than the six-year term proposed by the council.

 
Full text (in Dutch) of the A&W Residents Association’s response (dated 21 May 2011) to the council’s official review of the draft proposal Subsidiesystematiek Bewonersorganisaties.

A number of new subsidy arrangements for community organisations adjusted

- Basic subsidy increased to 15% of the original amount;

- In the transition year 2012 adminstrative support will remain as it is now;

- From 2013 onwards subsidy dependent on assessment of activity programmes;

- Reactions to the revised plans can be submitted till 22 May;

- Sometime during the summer a detailed proposal will be submitted to the city council.

Complete council press release (in Dutch)

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Residents Association being taken to the cleaners?

The city council intends to cut back drastically on subsidies to community organisations. What will this mean for our neighbourhood?

In 2012 Ingrid van Engelshoven (alderman for education and public services, D66) wants to allocate just one tenth of current subsidies for the accommodation and activities to community organisations, and stop reimbursement for general administrative support (except for that directly linked to activities) all together. If our Residents Association wants more subsidies, an activities’ programme will have to be submitted to the director of the sub-municipal office for our city district. Other resident groups will also be encouraged to apply for subsidies the whole year round. This is intended to allow local residents themselves more of a voice instead of the organizations speaking for them. * The council means business because community organisations have already been informed that they no longer need to submit an annual strategy for 2012.

But … what does this mean for us in practice?

A well-organised and approachable residents association will become virtually impossible if we can no longer rely on good-quality administrative support. Currently, Trudy Hollander is present two mornings a week in the association’s office space in the Klokhuis Community Centre. She deals with the post (an awful lot of it from the council!), maintains contact with advertisers in the community newspaper (and on the website), takes meeting minutes, archives material and is the knowledge centre of the A&W Residents Association.

The presence of a professional who is always available at set times is essential for such an organisation, otherwise manned by volunteers who provide help and support when and if they have the time, to function properly.

The change from an annual, co-ordinated application for a subsidy to individual/incidental applications is not only more time consuming (for both community organisations and the council) but will also bring uncertainty. Must the A&W Residents Association and individual neighbourhood residents now compete with one another for support, with the risk of hearing the subsidy fund is empty or the certainty that structured, co-ordinated activities will be extremely difficult.

With less than 10% of the present subsidy, the A&W Residents Association will be cleaned out. Volunteer work in the neighbourhood needs to be channelled and given direction; the community organisations were actually created, with assistance from the council, to do just that. If the council’s intension is to stop certain community organisations from ignoring the wishes of their residents and monopolising subsidies, then speak to them about it and take measures to change their behaviour; don’t condemn all organisations.

The alderman says she wants to promote resident participation but in fact this plan is the best way to undermine such commitment.

The committee of councillors recently met to discuss the proposed plan; it must not go through. We will be doing everything we can, luckily still with the necessary administrative support, to make sure it doesn’t.

April 2011 - Tieke Dedel and Auke Bloembergen

committee members of the Archipel & Willemspark Residents Association

*In our neighbourhood there are regular A&W community council meetings held in the Klokhuis Community Centre when everyone is free to come along and have their say. Only recently two new A&W Resident Association working groups were set up at the request of local individuals.

New working parties:

Sustainable energy

Care & well-being

New A&W board members

The new A&W Residents Association not only has a new administrative secretary but also two new board members.

New vice chairperson

Tieke Dedel has lived in the neighbourhood for 40 years, first on Nassauplein in a bed-sit above the Damesleesmusum and then on the second floor at the same address, when she got married. In 1979 she and her husband moved to Soendastraat.

After working for the Council of State, Tieke became a judge and often presided over administrative law cases between citizen and government.

Work in the community

Last year Tieke retired and decided she would like to become involved with people at a more practical level and gladly accepted the invitation to join the A&W board.

She enjoys the positive approach of the board and other volunteers and the plus for her is that in the first six months as vice chairperson, she has become acquainted with more fellow residents than in all of the previous 40 years!

Everyone wishes Tieke a fruitful and “positive” tenure.

New board secretary

Although in contrast to Tieke, Folef Hooft Graafland (Esquire) is a relative newcomer to the neighbourhood, arriving in 2008, he has long been involved in social work and is interested in people and their environment and wants to do his bit for the community. He first lived on Nassauplein but after the death of his wife moved to Celebesstraat.

His unusual name, Folef, is an old family (originally from Friesland) name dating back to 1500.  His brother Gilles was the former vice chairman of the A&W Residents Association.

A man with many facets

Folef worked in the banking sector for more than 40 years and was a District Director for ABN-AMRO when he retired in 1996. While caring for his wife during her illness, he became very familiar with many of the authorities and regulations in the care sector – a very different world to banking!

He is keen on sport, field hockey when he was younger and now golf,  is very socially minded (set up a convalescence home in Rotterdam and supports the Order of Saint John’s charitable and hospitaller work), is an ardent do-it-yourself enthusiast and enjoys restoring things and he knows his way around a computer.

We hope he will get just as much pleasure from helping to restore the balance with regard to well-being in general and the daily problems in particular in our community.

Good luck!

Summarized translation of articles by Eva Drijver

A&W Community Newspaper February 2011

Archipel & Willemspark

Residents Association Foundation

Ereprijs

a prize awarded annually to a local volunteer

who has given exceptional service to the community

ErePrijs recipients:

2010 Ank Beekman

She served as board secretary from 2002 – 2010,

which she did in an outstanding manner

Her commitment to everything and everyone

was intense, her professional understanding

of her duties unsurpassed, and all carried out with

the proper attention to detail and planning, 

a demand for high standards from others and herself

and an excellent command of language.

Our appreciation for all of this is enormous. 

The Hague, 9 January 2011

The Hague, 10 January 2010

2008 Michiel Ottolander

 in gratitude for his many years of

involvement with local activities and

his great commitment to Archipel&Willemspark.  

From 1995 till 2002 he was an active member of

the working party responsible for quality of life

in the community on the editorial board

of the community newspaper.

For the last seven years he has been general

editorial staff member.

The computer lessons he gives in ‘t Klokhuis

are also greatly appreciated.

The Hague, 11 January 2009

2007 Joop Vos

in gratitude for his many years of service

as board chairman of the Residents Association,

in which role his good relations with local politians

often managed to bridge the gap between

the (sometimes) conflicting interests of

the municipality and the community.

The Hague, 13 January 2008

2006 Hans Groenendijk

in gratitude for his many years of service

as board member of the Residents Association

responsible for urban planning and policy on parking

and his attention to the consequences of

the Madurodam expansion and groundwater level,

which proved extremely important for the community.

The Hague, 18 January 2007

2005 Liesbeth de Bles

in gratitude for her many years of service to

 the ‘t Klokhuis Community Centre

in the Archipel

and more than 30 years

to the Clubhuis Cantaloup in Willemspark

The Hague, 15 January 2006

2004  Rupert van Heijningen

in gratitude for his contribution over many years

to urban planning in the community. 

The Hague, 13 January 2005

More ...

2003  Eva Drijver

in gratitude for her many years of service

to the communuty newspaper and biennial community fair.

The Hague, December 2003

2002 Guido de Sturler

in gratitude for his many years of commitment

to the architectuur in the community.

The Hague, 9 November 2002

2001 Else Ponsen-Breugem

in gratitude for her many years of commitment

to the community and to mark the

20th anniversary of her role as adminstrative support

to the Residents Association.

The Hague, September 2001

A truly local and unique gift for friends and family!

Exclusive Archipel & Willemspark perpetual birthday calendar

with 14 aerial photos of our neighbourhood.
A small map accompanies each photo pinpointing familiar buildings,

squares, streets and 'hofjes' as well as the viewpoint

from which the photos were shot.

Only
€5!

Available from the A/W Residents Association in the Klokhuis Community Centre: secretariaat@archipelwillemspark.nl

or

website@archipelwillemspark.nl