Zeewolde municipal elections winner wants to stop data center Meta

Leefbaar Zeewolde, the big winner of the municipal elections in Zeewolde, plans to stop the construction of Meta’s data center in the municipality. The party wants to do this, among other things, by influencing permits and land sales.

The local party Leefbaar Zeewolde won ten seats in the municipal elections on Wednesday, making the party big enough for a majority in the council. That is double the number of seats the party had. The party’s main priority is to prevent the construction of Meta’s data center, says party leader Tom Zonneveld against Omroep Flevoland. The party wants to ‘try every hurdle to slow down the process’, says Zonneveld.

The party leader states that it is difficult to reverse the zoning plan. It is, however, looking at the possibilities of doing so. In addition, betting on ‘everywhere shows that a different wind has started blowing here’, he says. For example, the party is going to the Senate to block the motion for the sale of the land, and it plans to convince the province and the water board not to grant permits for the construction of the data center. “The House of Representatives can still stop it and the Central Government Real Estate Agency still has to agree to the sale of the land,” says Zonneveld. The party wants to exert influence at every step in that process.

In December, a majority of the city council voted in favor of the zoning change that will allow the construction of Facebook parent company Meta’s upcoming hyperscale data center. 11 of the 19 councilors voted in favor of the zoning plan change. Coalition parties Leefbaar Zeewolde and the ChristenUnie voted against the change. Leefbaar Zeewolde and the ChristenUnie will now also work together to prevent the arrival of the data center, but the ChristenUnie does not see anything in changing the zoning plan again. “That would be improper management,” party chairman Tamara Baas told Omroep Flevoland.

Artist impression Meta data center Zeewolde