College response Education housing 2021

Response of the college of mayor and aldermen to the advice "Regulation Housing Facilities Education 2021" of the Advisory Council Social Domain Nuenen c.a. dated July 23, 2021.

Adopted at the meeting of August 24, 2021

Your opinion focuses primarily on the distances between elementary schools and physical education classrooms. This is a local choice for the city council to make.

Opinion regarding the regulation

You recommend favorably the change to no longer make the distance dependent on the number of clock hours per week per school.

You argue that from a road safety perspective, a short travel distance between school and movement room is preferable for moving students from grades three through eight.

We agree with you that a short distance to a gymnasium is best for traffic safety, among other reasons. For five of the eight elementary school in Nuenen, this is also the case.

They have a gym close to or even in the school building (Gerwen, Nederwetten, Wentelwiek, Dassenburcht and Crijnsschool). For the remaining three elementary schools, they have to travel to a gym that is further away.

The distance criterion chosen in the regulation of 1600 meters as the crow flies is in line with the current situation. Unfortunately, there are no gymnasiums available closer for these three schools. You understand that at this time there is no other choice.

Advice regarding the construction of new sports facility(s) in the future

In the council decision to renovate the Hongerman Sports Hall, the city council called for a short-term site survey for a new sports facility to be built. 

In order to meet the future need for sports facilities in Nuenen village, expansion is needed. The preference of the sports associations is for a larger location, consisting of several hall sections.

You correctly state the following in your opinion:

'From the sports associations' point of view, a concentration of exercise rooms somewhere in Nuenen is more pleasant. From the municipality's point of view, the smallest possible number of classrooms that meet all the legal regulations for exercise education is preferable.'

You recommend that the site study include scenarios in which the rules of the ordinance can be met, the traffic safety of school children is not unnecessarily worsened, the sports clubs can be served and the investment and maintenance costs remain acceptable to the municipality.

You rightly call attention to the situation of primary education. Combining several classrooms in one place may worsen the traffic safety of students because the distance may increase. It may also require building more classrooms because the distance should not exceed 1,600 meters as the crow flies. By choosing a greater distance standard, you increase the likelihood of more traffic movements: more children will have to travel a greater distance through heavy traffic. This need not be a problem, provided it can be done safely (via separate bike lanes). The risks should be explicitly assessed and weighed per school and location.

Under no circumstances should elementary school students pay the highest price.

While we realize that the most ideal scenario, a gymnasium very close to a school, may not be the outcome of the site study, we take to heart your advice to have special consideration for education.

Recommendation use of outdoor sports facilities of associations

You have previously made the suggestion that schools use outdoor sports facilities owned by associations. This is not easy to arrange in terms of management. Your recommendation to have the community sports coach play a role between education and associations is one we adopt.