The psychiatric clinic in Den Dolder has to go, but where?

« Love in this country for forensic care is not as great as you would like. We are now encountering that, ”sighs district alderman Walter van Dijk (VVD). In front of him, two hundred inhabitants of Den Dolder sit on white chairs in the local sports hall. They would have preferred to hear this Wednesday evening that a departure from the Forensic Psychiatric Clinic Fivoor from their village is close by, but the message is less positive.

For the second time in two months, the Doldenaren came to the hall for a residents' meeting. The mood rose high on January 10. The feeling of insecurity was great, after a 76-year-old fellow villager was stabbed by a 27-year-old patient of Fivoor on the way home of the village. The woman did not survive the attack. Thoughts then went out to the murder of Anne Faber from 2017, with perpetrator Michael P. also being treated at the care institution.

Whereas in January residents mainly demanded security guarantees from the municipality and Fivoor, Wednesday it is about a longer -lingering, underlying issue. For ten years it has been intended that the a total of three clinics of Fivoor Road Verhuizen from Den Dolder. The municipality wants to put around 400 homes on the wooded site, the land has even been sold. But Fivoor is unable to find a suitable new location. The last departure date of January 1, 2025 was stretched a few years ago until January 1, 2027.

So time is running out. After Fivoor concluded in 2023 that the search was rising, the municipality of Zeist decided last summer to engage an independent agency that had to find out whether all possible locations were actually in the picture and investigated. On Wednesday evening, Rebel Group presented a summary of the report To the inhabitants of Den Dolder.

First of all, the researchers looked at how thoroughly fivorous and terrain owner Altrecht have worked in their search. Although the researchers believe that the parties could have started faster, they were « predominantly carefully » in assessing suitable locations.

The fact that it was not possible to find a place is mainly because other municipalities did not see the arrival of Fivoor. In 20 of the 32 places investigated, the municipality did not want to cooperate in the arrival of the forensic care clinic. The murder of Anne Faber of 2017 and the aftermath of that event contributed to the reluctance to accommodate Fivoor.

Possible new places secret

The agency also went looking for suitable locations in the Central Netherlands region. Criteria included a social destination in the environmental plan and a travel time of a maximum of 45 minutes for the Fivoor staff. Otherwise, the care institution fears that it will lose scarce employees in forensic care. In the end, twelve locations remained. Because not all owners know about the interest in their land or buildings, the municipality keeps the precise places secret.

Since January, of the twelve locations, six possible places have already been lost, three of which are in Flevoland. « Due to the event of January 2, municipalities are probably even less willing to offer an organization like Fivoor a place, » says Van Dijk. « You can say: it doesn't make me happy. But you can also say: there are six left. « 

The intended locations are all in the hands of the empire. In some cases, these are Defense sites, which may be released as a defense. The alderman also drops that one of the six locations is in the municipality of Zeist. It leads to buzz in the sports hall. Last year, the Zeister City Council decided to ban forensic care in the municipality, because of the negative experiences with Fivoor.

If the microphone goes around the room for questions, several residents refer to the external relocation date of 1 January 2027. Van Dijk: “Whether that date is real will have to be seen. That deadline also provides a dynamic and a sense of urgency. I now see no reason to let it go. « 

Fivoor director Erik Masthoff is less optimistic. “If a piece of land is offered tomorrow, I am very happy with that and we will put down a clinic. But it is realistic that piece of land is not there tomorrow, and four to five years is needed to build the clinic. I hope I am wrong, but I don't think the date of January 1, 2027 will be achieved. « 

What about the urgent request for a recording top in Den Dolder, where the city council in January almost unanimously insisted? Masthoff does not want it. « There is a high demand for places in forensic care in the Netherlands. If we disappear, there are 140 places gone here, but above all, more insecurity arises in society because people cannot be admitted. « 

« The solution to this problem is not necessarily in Zeist, but in The Hague, » says Van Dijk. He expects to find a new location for Fivoor Help from State Secretary Ingrid Coenradie (Justice and Security), who will come to Den Dolder on Thursday together with State Secretary Vincent Karremans Public Health, Welfare and Sport, VVD). The two ministers will visit the clinic and speak to residents following the tragic event at the beginning of January. A good thing, says Van Dijk: « There is now much more eye for the problem we have in Den Dolder. »

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