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What a municipal merger has meant for the possibilities of citizens to
participate in wind energy policymaking processes, the case of Zijpe
- No windmills in the new municipality -Name: Melanie van Driel
Word count: 8814 (excl. list of references and list of contents) Assignment: Bachelor Thesis
Project: De Strijd tegen Wind en Water:
de Implementatie van grote projecten door de overheid Student number: 10443827
Date: 08-08-15 Place: Amsterdam
2 1. Contents 2. Introduction (p.3) 3. Theoretical framework (p.3-5) 4. Academic relevance (p.5) 5. Societal relevance (p.6) 6. Hypotheses (p.6) 7. Research questions (p.6-7)
8. Introduction to the case of Zijpe, aim and method (p.7)
9. Case: wind energy policy in the municipality of Zijpe 2001-2015 (p.7-11)
10. Analysis I: Position of citizens in the municipality of Zijpe 2010-2013 (p. 11-16) 10.1 Agenda-setting (p.12-13)
10.2 Influencing topics up for discussion (p.13-15) 10.3 The room in the wind energy policy area (p.15) 10.4 Possibilities for joining an interest group (p.15-16) 10.5 Post-decision involvement (p.16)
11. Possibilities for influence in the municipality of Schagen 2013-2015 (p.17-22) 11.1 Agenda-setting (p.17)
11.2 Influencing topics up for discussion (p.17-19) 11.3 The room in the wind energy policy area (p.19-20) 11.4 Possibilities for joining an interest group (p.20-21) 11.5 Post-decision involvement (p.21-22)
12. Possibilities for citizens to participate, Zijpe and Schagen compared. (p.22-26) 12.1 Agenda-setting (p.23-24)
12.2 Influencing topics up for discussion (p.24-25) 12.3 The room in the wind energy policy area (p.25) 12.4 Possibilities for joining an interest group (p.25) 12.5 Post-decision involvement (p.25-26)
13. Conclusion (p.26-28) List of references (p.28-30)
3 2. Introduction.
It has often been claimed that the Netherlands, although having some potential for wind energy, has been fairly unsuccessful in implementing wind energy policy. One of the reasons for this is public protest that results in lengthy court cases, troubled relationships between different layers of government and growing hostility between societal parties. At least 77% of Dutch citizens think that politicians do not listen to, or have good contacts with citizens (Verhoeven, 2006: 27) Since participation in policy making has the potential to make people feel heard it might increase public acceptance of outcomes and can make wind energy policy more successful. This research looks at the possibilities for public participation in wind energy policy in a case where a
municipal merger has taken place. A combination of document analyses and interviews leads to the conclusion that the municipal merger of the municipality of Zijpe with Harenkarspel and Schagen points to mergers having a negative influence on possibilities for participation. Part of the explanation for this is that the importance of the dossier itself has changed and that
institutions meant to facilitate public participation have been adjusted. This influence, however, is partly overshadowed by the historical context of the policy dossier which limited possibilities for wind energy policy within the municipality.
The section below will outline a change in democracy theory that has started to deem citizen participation important for successful policymaking. The idea that municipal mergers might influence possibilities for participation will then serve as the reason to examine the case of Zijpe, which merged with the municipalities of Schagen and Harenkarspel. An analysis of the situation before and after the merger will lead to the conclusion that the merger has reordered power, but not in favor of the citizen.
3. Theoretical framework: citizen involvement and municipal mergers.
Until recent, theories about the relationship between democracy and citizen engagement were dominated by what has been labeled an elitist perspective (Verhoeven, 2006:24). The executive, it was argued, would act in the interest of the citizen once it had been elected. After electing their representatives it would be most profitable for the citizen to refrain from trying to influence policy processes, since they could count on it that their interests would be guarded by their representatives. The classic elitist perspective thus provided a very narrow idea of what ideal public participation would look like.
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This perspective is useful to come to terms with changes that have taken place during the past decades. A growing emphasis on the idea of a strong democracy, in which citizen
participation enhances the quality of decision-making and therefore is beneficial for the working of democracies, can be detected (Verhoeven, 2006; 27). It is claimed that public participation in policy making will enhance the legitimacy, transparency and acceptance of policy outcomes. This is connected to a change in the attitude of the citizenry. The citizenry is now more developed and willing to participate in policymaking (Tonkens and Duyvendak, 2011: 210). However, this can only be successful if the executive is willing to, and makes a serious effort to include the citizen in decision-making processes (ibid).
Instead of citizens handing a mandate to the executive, the ideal version of democracy now allows for an ongoing conversation between the executive and the citizens. This has become a necessity since the citizenry is increasingly willing to use unconventional actions to show discontent if it is not being included in decision-making (Verhoeven, 2006: 35). Research into Dutch citizenship has furthermore showed that the Dutch imagination of citizenship leaves Dutch society wanting for deliberative, political elements of citizenship (Tonkens and Duyvendak, 2011: ibid) For democracy to work, ongoing conversation, or more specifically deliberation has thus become necessary.
Gutmann and Thompson (2000) have made clear that deliberative democracy depends upon fair terms of cooperation. The ideal situation might thus be one where citizens and the executive stand on equal foot in deliberative forums because this has the largest potential for creating outcomes that are perceived as fair. The conditions of ideal deliberative negotiations as depicted by Jane Mansbridge (2009) include absence of coercive power, a base in mutual justification, reciprocity, respect, freedom and equality. Under these conditions both parties will ideally see outcomes as legitimate, even though these may not always be beneficial to all. Deliberative democracy can therefore prevent deadlocks, like the ones that have often become a reality in wind energy policy.
For successful deliberation, institutions that tend to equalize power and legal requirements that facilitate honesty and fair dealings are a necessity (Gutmann and Thompson, 2000: 215). As many authors have claimed ‘’organizational policy can be immensely significant for how
governments at all levels manage issues and respond to them’’ (Seidman and Gilmour 1986; Savitch 1994; Pierre 1999). We might expect institutions (and legal) requirements to play a
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specifically large role in facilitating public participation since executives might not necessarily want to include the citizen that will provide a critical stance on its policy proposals. We might expect institutions and legal requirements to play a specifically large role in facilitation public participation since executives might not necessarily want to include the citizen that will provide a critical stance on its policy proposals if there is no obligation to do so.
An important platform for citizens to try and participate in policy making is the municipality, because this policy setting affects their neighborhood and is often the easiest
policy-level for them to gain access to. Research into the impact of municipal size and democracy in Denmark has led to the conclusion that municipal size matters for citizen participation.
Participation is, at least in Denmark, higher in small municipalities (Larsen, 2002).
However, the outcomes of a municipal merger are rarely measured, even though high expectations lead up to mergers taking place. Savitch and Vogel discussed the way in which rules, procedures, norms and institutions of governance can be affected by county-city
consolidation (Savitch and Vogel, 2004: 760). County-city consolidation is in certain respects very comparable to the merger of municipalities in the Netherlands because its most important elements are the changing of boundaries, public management reform – which includes policy implementation and its direction- and changes the rules of the (political) game (Savitch and Vogel, 2004: 762). Internal and external relationships are reordered. Lowndes (2001) has put this rather straight by claiming that mergers are essentially a political act that involves a reordering of power. Paasi and Zimmenbauer (2013) have directed attention to the possibility of new regional identities being formed through, partly through the institutional changes taking place during mergers.
4. Academic relevance
Although some research has been conducted on municipal mergers in the Netherlands (see: Drenth, 2014: Stoffels, 2009 and Vlugt, 2011), there has not yet been a study concerning the impact of municipal mergers on public participation. This research will try to shed a light on the possibility of a connection between these variables. It might be interesting to see how a new order can impact the opportunity of the citizens to sustain contacts with the executive within all forums where deliberation might be possible.
6 5. Societal relevance
Since wind energy is a very contested policy area, an increase or decrease in the possibilities of citizens to participate might have a big impact on the way in which citizens experience the outcome of decision-making processes. In the face of this reality, it remains one of the ambitions of the Dutch government to increase public acceptance and influence of Dutch citizens in the creation of wind energy policy. Because the case of Zijpe is a prominent example of a conflict in this policy area, it will provide a good case for the analysis of the possibilities for citizens to partake in deliberations in forums constructive to wind energy policymaking. The effect of Zijpe’s merger with two other municipalities on these processes will contribute to insights into the effects of municipal mergers on the possibilities of citizens to partake in the wind energy policy process.
6. Hypotheses
Research has predicted citizen participation will drop once the size of the municipality grows. This might be in relative or in absolute numbers. If this prediction holds the active citizenry can be expected to lose leverage within the policymaking arena and lose the power to demand further influence during the policy process. In the case of wind energy, however, there is potential for cooperation between like-minded citizens. If this has happened citizens might combine their efforts to gain influence, and the extent to which citizens participate might not change all too much.
7. Research questions
This research will focus on several aspects that might be constructive to the position of the citizen to see how municipal reordering has affected the possibilities for the citizen to influence the development of wind energy policy. The research question is therefore the following: Will the merger of Zijpe with the municipality of Schagen (and Harenkarspel) increase or decrease the power of its citizens to influence wind energy policy? Three sub-questions are relevant for
finding the answer to this question. The first is; To what extend did citizens in the municipality of Zijpe have the chance to participate in policy-making in the field of Wind Energy in 2010-13? This question will result in an analysis of the initial situation. The second sub-question is: To what extend have citizens in the new municipality of Schagen had the chance to participate in
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policy-making surrounding wind energy in 2013-2015? This will make it possible to detect any changes with the initial situation. Together these questions will provide the basis for answering the third sub-question, namely: Have there been any relevant changes in citizen participation and to what extend could these changes have resulted from the merger?
8. Introduction to the case of Zijpe, aim and method
In this section of the research the wind energy policy of the municipality of Zijpe, and thereafter the municipality of Schagen will be set out. This will provide the background for the analysis of possibilities for citizens to influence policy before and after the merger. Although it will not be an exhaustive history, it will set out critical moments in the development of this policy area that serve as points of reference during later analyses. To reconstruct this history an analysis of policy-documents, court rulings and interviews with practitioners, social movements and citizens were used. Interviewees were collected through snowball sampling. The added value of
interviews is that they can help to understand the impact of policy-documents for different parties and can provide a clear notion of the coherence between policy documents that a document analysis alone would not provide.
9. Case: wind energy policy in the municipality of Zijpe 2001-2015
In 1988, a wind cooperation called Kennemerwind was erected in the region of Zijpe
(kennemerwind.nl). Throughout its existence it has experienced declining support for its ambition to erect windmills in the North of the Province of North-Holland (in Dutch: Noord-Holland). Many parties used to favor the placement of windmills as well. The following history will make clear why that is not the case anymore.
In 2001, the municipality of Zijpe adopted a policy paper on wind energy, labeled
Windnotitie (Gemeente Zijpe, 2010: 18). Within it the municipality displayed its support for wind
energy and set out its wind energy policy (ibid). The executive disclosed sites that it deemed as appropriate for the placement of windmills. One executive has mentioned that there was real momentum for ambitious wind energy policy in Zijpe during this period. ‘’It was the time of Al Gore, we were made aware that energy was going to run out. The municipality of Zijpe was in a Province with a lot of potential for Windenergy production and there was a lot of open space’’ (Executive Zijpe, 19-5-15). Social awareness, it was claimed, was at an all-time high and the
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municipality planned to contribute according to its high potential (ibid). The Windnotitie presumably even got received with disappointment by some of the city-representatives who requested a more ambitious agenda (ibid). This could be realized by adding potential windmill locations.
In 2003, however, the Province of North-Holland presented a policy paper called the wind opportunity map (In Dutch: Windkansenkaart). This pointed out locations that the Province saw as potential windmill sites (Provincie Noord-Holland, 2003). These locations did not correspond with those of Zijpe’s Windnotie. This meant the Windnotitie had to be aligned with the wind opportunity map (Gemeente Zijpe, 2010: 6). The process of this realignment shows the ambitious spirit of 2001 slowly got lost in the period leading up to the adoption of an adjusted Windnotitie.
In the years following 2001, several citizens issued formal noise complaints about existing windmills. The environmental service of the municipality, the Regionale
Uitvoeringsdienst, received these complaints from residents of windmill sites (employee
Schagen, 28-5-15). Although they were not the sole cause of it, these complaints were part of the changing attitude towards wind energy within the municipality (ibid).
When the executive presented its first proposal for a renewed Windnotitie in 2005, it had not yet noticed this change (Executive Zijpe, 27-5-15). Following the formal procedure for new proposals, a commission – commissie grondsgebiedszaken – was summoned in front of which the executive presented its paper (Windnotitie, 2010). The city-representatives in the commission received this paper with more caution than its predecessor and this led to the executive starting a revision of the proposal (ibid). Another formal requirement that altered the Windnotitie after 2005 was a required participation procedure (in Dutch: inspraakprocedure) that empowered citizens to issue written responses on the proposal within a given time-period.
But apart from formal procedures, citizens started to enhance their chances of being heard. Around 2005 a group of citizens started to send letters to citizens that had issued a complaint, and residents of (possible) windmill sites (platformwindenergiezijpe.nl). They made these citizens aware of what was going to happen and indulged them to let their dismay be heard by signing a letter they had composed (ibid). Because they were unhappy about the results of complaints that were going to the Regionale Uitvoeringsdienst, they published all compaints on a website to increase publicity. Shortly thereafter a foundation was founded called Stichting
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energy in general, they were against wind energy on land or near living areas (Chair SKPWZ, 21-5-15). They responded negatively to the Windnotitie.
In 2007, formal and informal responses to the proposed Windnotitie led the executive to ‘’include new insights - especially in relation to volume-levels - into its policy’’ (Gemeente Zijpe, 2010:6). The new paper – with insights included – was presented in 2008 and had been subjected to the same participation procedure as that of the 2005 proposal (executive, 27-5-15). With or without a Windnotitie, some wind energy plans were realized during this period. Although momentum was slowly lost, in 2006 Zijpe became the owner of a new windmill, built on and paid for by a local farmer who lived in a quiet area at Grote Sloot 158
(platformwindenergiezijpe.nl). In 2008 Kennemerwind got permitted to build a wind park called
Burgervlotbrug (kennemerwind.nl). This was joined by formal complaints and public protest
(executive, 27-5-15). However these did not result in a change of policy (Residents Sint
Maartensbrug, 28-5-15). The municipality saw no legal reason not to issue a permit (ibid). It was opened in 2009 and consisted of several windmills, placed near a Provincial road. The executive mentioned that in comparison to other projects, Burgervlotbrug could proceed without too much trouble. Local inhabitants had a different, more problematic experience of what had happened. This makes clear that the executive and the citizens had not developed a shared frame of reference about certain events.
However, a change seems to have taken place when the Windnotitie was finally adopted in 2010. Apart from outside pressure created by the erection of SKPWZ and the problems surrounding the Burgervlotbrug windpark, there were factors influencing the executive. The executive was slowly moving towards a more conservative stance on the placement of windmills. As was the case with the 2005 revision, the adjustment of the new paper was accompanied by a participation procedure which showed a lot of doubt about wind energy (executive, 27-5-15). The placement of the windmill at Grote Sloot 158 led to additional formal complaints about volume-levels, which happened around the same time country-wide norms for volume levels were restricted (Gemeente Zijpe, 2010: 10). The chances for an ambitious wind energy policy were further limited by a framework that would be adopted by the Province in 2011, which Zijpe had seen before adopting its paper (ibid: 8). Future windmills would have to be placed in a line with at least three windmills, individual windmills were no longer allowed (ibid).
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almost every party had turned 180 degrees on its wind energy stance (executive, 27-5-15). From an almost unanimous adoption of the 2001 Windnotitie in favor of an ambitious approach, the representatives as well as the executive had turned sceptic on wind energy by 2010 (ibid). The new approach of the city-representatives and the executive was apparent in the case of Jan van
Kempen, a proposal for a new wind park made by Kennemerwind that was declined by the
municipality in 2010 (ibid).
After the Windnotitie was adopted, residents that had filed complaints against Grote Sloot 158 felt their complaints were not resulting into actions by the executive (Residents Sint
Maartensbrug, 28-5-15). They started a legal procedure against the municipality that led to a ruling against the executive by a local court in 2011 (Raad van State, 2014). In 2013, the municipality of Zijpe merged with the municipalities of Harenkarspel and Schagen. This meant that the city of Zijpe became part of a, compared to its own 7000 inhabitants, very large
municipality. The new executive of Schagen did not act upon the court decision about Grote Sloot 158 and that was reason for the citizens to go to the highest regulatory court in the
Netherlands, named the Raad van State (Hereafter: RvS). Their claim was that the municipality had placed a different, larger windmill about 20 meters from the place it was supposed to be according to the permit.
A couple of months after the start of the legal proceedings between the municipality of Schagen and its citizens, the Dutch government presented its Energieakkoord, a policy document in which it presented an ambitious approach to renewable energy (SER, 2013:12). It must amount to almost a quarter of all energy production in 2023. This accord was preceded by an
inter-Provincial (in Dutch: inter provinciaal overleg) meeting during which targets were set for every Province (ibid). This means that the Province of North Holland will have to make sure that it realizes a certain amount of wind energy capacity in the near future. Until now there has been no perceivable change in the stance of the Province on the placement of individual windmills so it is not yet sure how this accord will influence municipal policies.
In 2014, the RvS judged that the citizens who complained against Grote Sloot 158 were in the right about the windmill being illegal, it had to be removed (Raad van State, 2014). This still is, a hot issue within the municipality of Zijpe, and now Schagen. In June of 2015 Schagen held a commission meeting to discuss the prospects of a windmill at Grote Sloot 158 corresponding to the demands laid down in the official permit. It has been decided that mister Schuijt, the owner of
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the property, may place the permitted windmill after removing the illegal one. It is not yet clear what the response of the citizens will be.
10. Analysis I: Position of citizens in the municipality of Zijpe 2010-2013: Introduction
Now the background is clear, we can start to analyze the initial place of the citizen in the policy-process. Lowndes has conceptualized a municipal merger as a reordering of power. This leads to some parties benefitting and others being negatively affected by changes in the institutional setting that structures the policy-making process. The power of citizens, Tonken and Duyvendak stated, is influenced by the willingness of the executive to make a serious effort to include citizens. This analysis will therefore look at the structural setting to see if it served as limiting or broadening in facilitating cooperation between the citizens and the executive. It will make apparent how the municipality of Zijpe made possible or limited the possibilities of citizens to influence decision-making processes. Doing this will answer the first sub-question of this research, namely; To what extend did citizens in the municipality of Zijpe have the chance to participate in policy-making in the field of Wind Energy in 2010-13?
12 - scheme depicting the place of the citizen in the institutional process of policy-making in Zijpe -
10.1 Agenda-setting
The municipality of Zijpe had certain elements build into its institutional setting to facilitate citizen participation. To put a wind energy issue on the municipal agenda, citizens could try to raise the issue by speaking during a council meeting (executive, 27-5-15). Speaking during council meetings was limited to topics that weren’t already being dealt with by the council (ibid). Speaking during this monthly meeting required signing up at least twenty-four hours in advance. However, these rules were not applied rigorously and citizens were often able to add themselves
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to the speakers-list shortly before meetings started.
One might claim that the agenda-setting power of the citizens remained limited because they depended upon the city-representatives to take their input into consideration. Three
representatives needed to support a wind energy initiative before the executive would prepare a proposal or set up a meeting to discuss it (executive, 27-5-15). Since wind energy was not a particularly popular topic, getting such an issue on the agenda required lobbying these
representatives. This means that agenda-setting was only possible for citizens with close contacts in the council of representatives it thereby structurally disadvantaged some citizens in their attempts to influence the municipal agenda. This is especially true since some members of interest groups had a direct, although not informal, relationship with the executive.
Another way to influence the municipal agenda was through the dorpsraad, literally translated village council. From the 90’s on, village councils had existed as something in between a municipal institution and a social movement. Citizens inhabiting a village within the
municipality could found a village council (executive II, 5-6-15). Existing ones served as the principal medium for communication between the village and the municipality and could present issues to the executive that it discussed during its weekly meeting (ibid). Because it facilitated a sustainable relationship between members of the council and the executive, these councils enhanced the weight of the opinion of the villagers on current debates.
10.2 Influencing topics up for decision
Although agenda-setting has the advantage of giving citizens the possibility to push through a specific issue-frame, this rarely happened since most initiatives within the wind energy domain came from the executive itself. Proposals, like the one trying to legalize the Grote Sloot 158, could be discussed with the relevant village council, because spatial planning issues like wind energy were part of the accord between these councils and the municipality (executive II, 5-6-15). In the case of Grote Sloot 158, however, it is interesting to note that village of Sint
Maartensbrug, the village in which Grote Sloot lies, had no village council (ibid). One executive noted that Sint Maartensbrug was a not a very coherent community and since there weren’t a lot of public facilities the citizens never founded a village council (ibid). The absence of a reciprocal relationship between the citizens of Sint Maartensbrug and the executive might explain how Grote Sloot 158 could lead to large public hostilities.
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However, the executive did try to compensate this lack of communication by visiting all citizens who had a stake in the policy dossier of Grote Sloot. Obviously this is a subjective account of relevant actors not based on institutional conventions. This is affirmed by the claim of some residents that they had not been informed about plans concerning their living area. Looking for information online did not provide all the relevant information for these citizens (Chair SKPWZ, 21-5-15).
Although the executive dominated agenda-setting on wind energy topics, changing spatial planning schemes, which was often needed for wind energy proposals, formally required citizens involvement that exceeded consulting the relevant village council. Apart from issuing a written response, in such a case citizens were invited to talk during round table meetings (in Dutch:
rondetafelgesprekken).
Round tables were introduced in 2010, almost simultaneously with the rejection of the Jan van Kempen windpark (executive, 27-5-15). They were presented as a way to give citizens an opportunity to participate during the most preliminary stages of the decision-making process. During round tables, citizens were given the opportunity to speak so the council could take in the opinion of the citizens when forming its opinion. It was not unusual for 10 to 15 citizens to speak during a round table meeting (employee Schagen, 27-5-15). However, this introduction was the outcome of an inter-institutional trade-off made by the executive. The introduction of round tables was accompanied by the removal of discussion time during council meetings. The power of citizens to influence early stages of the decision-making process was therefore accompanied by limited possibilities to influence city-representatives shortly before their final decision. Discussion during council meetings was deemed unnecessary because round tables were said to provide enough room for discussion (ibid).
The potential of round tables, furthermore, was not used to its fullest potential with only one round table ever concerning wind energy, namely about Grote Sloot 158 in 2011. The attendance during this meeting, however, was especially high. There were heated discussions between proponents and opponents about the status of the windmill. Both parties had clearly positioned themselves before the meeting took place (executive II, 5-6-15). This limited the possibilities for an open discussion.
One of the least reciprocal ways in which citizens got involved was through information evenings. At least two times information evenings were organized by the executive explicitly to
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exercise damage control when an upcoming decision was expected to cause serious problems (ibid). These evenings were promoted by advertisements in the local media. In the case of Grote Sloot 158 some residents were invited personally. According to the executive at the time, citizens were often misinformed about the nature of a problem, in this case about what the policy dossier of Grote Sloot was really about. The meetings were meant to explain to citizens that some things were not up for discussion. Of course one can wonder why some things can’t be up for
discussion. An information evening can be seen as a tool by the executive to de-politicize certain aspects of a political discussion by claiming that the frame of the discussion is set in stone.
10.3 The room in the wind energy policy area
A possible explanation for the general lack of decision-making on wind energy is provided by structural limitations set for wind energy policy in the Windnotitie of 2010. Before it was
adopted, the municipality organized two meetings, one in the North and one in the South to hear citizens’ opinions on the proposal (employee Schagen, 27-5-15). All citizens were invited, but the attendants closely resembled the ones who would later steer the round table on Grote Sloot into a deadlock. In addition, these meetings were in no way linked to formal parts of decision-making. In the final document the executive determined that stand-alone windmills were prohibited because they contradicted the Provincial framework to be adopted in 2011 (executive, 27-5-15). There were only limited possibilities left for the placement of windmills in the municipality. The North-Holland canal was deemed a possibility, but because of protected areas of Natura 2000 nature there were no further locations explored (employee Schagen, 27-5-15). Although there were possibilities for citizens to try and set the agenda or influence proposals, they could only hope to do so insofar as their input did not contradict the stance taken by the municipality. Influencing policy was further problematized by the fragmented responsibility for the wind energy dossier. The building and environmental aspects of wind energy were dealt with by different executives. Especially issues that fall outside or in between these categories could be placed on the desk of the wrong executive, complicating the process of citizen involvement.
10.4 Possibilities for joining an interest group
Something that enhanced the possibilities for citizens wishing to influence wind energy policy was the possibility to join an interest group.
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Citizens opposing wind energy or specific wind energy plans could joint two
organizations, SKPWZ and Keep Zijpe Inhabitable (in Dutch: Houdt Zijpe Leefbaar). These organizations spread important documents internally, keeping their members informed about their actions.
Keep Zijpe inhabitable had good, although formal, contacts with the executive. It had one of its members in the city-council and was therefore able to contact the executive at any given moment (executive, 27-5-15). By organizing public meetings on wind energy, it tried to expand the reach of its organization and tried to influence the executive. The executive always send some of their people there to discuss topics up for discussion.
However, the executive dealt with SKPWZ at an almost informal manner. This can be illustrated through an anecdote. One member stated that he learned about an upcoming windpark by a plan he saw lying around the office of the executive. Upon asking if he could look at it the executive handed the file. The plan included his own living area and the member found this out through his informal contacts. He was even invited to copy the dossier. As is clear in this story, these informal lines did not ensure early involvement. Interest groups in general were excluded from working groups of the executive that monitored the implementation of existing policy (executive II, 5-6-15). They are thus excluded in early as well as final stages of decision-making. Citizens with an interest in wind energy could join the wind energy cooperation of
Kennemerwind. Like Keep Zijpe Inhabitable it has organized some meetings to inform the executive and discuss the upsides of wind energy with residents.
10.5 Post-decision involvement
If the executive was took a wind energy decision, citizens could influence the implementation of municipal policies. Irregularities could be issued through a formal complaint at the regional implementation service (employee Schagen, 27-5-15). Most complaints considered the volume levels of windmills. However, the implementation service did not communicate these complaints with the executive, so complaints were kept out of the political arena and in the field of the judiciary. Citizens often heard that their claim was deemed ‘invalid’. Interviewees emphasized the executive played a ‘legal card’ if it wanted to depoliticize a certain aspect of its decision or decision-making process . This approach can largely be explained by the fear of the executive for damage claims (ibid)
17 11. Possibilities for influence in the municipality of Schagen 2013-2015:
Introduction:
This part of the research will lay-out the current situation in Schagen to show the institutional changes and how these have changed the place of the citizen in the municipal power order within the policy process. This will answer the second sub-question of this research, namely: to what extend have citizens in the new municipality of Schagen had the chance to participate in policy-making surrounding wind energy in 2013-2015?
11.1 Agenda-setting
Representatives can still set wind-energy on the policy-agenda during a council meeting. Citizens able to lobby the council of representatives can still try to set wind energy on the policy agenda. The possibilities for lobbying have, however, decreased since the new municipality is striving for professionalism (ex-executive Zijpe, 19-5-15) . This is especially true for citizens trying to influence the executive, since stakeholders are now contacted by the dossier-holders and are only contacted by the executive themselves once a proposal is being issued (executive II, 5-6-15). For citizens of Zijpe in particular, links between them and their council members may be
geographically impeded since only Zijpes city hall has been closed after the merger (ibid). Citizens of Zijpe will have to go through more trouble to try and influence decision-making and decision-makers.
The municipality also introduced a new way of working ‘’working in the 21th century’’ (executive II, 5-6-15). This means that practitioners no longer have a fixed time or location. This nuances the idea that the inhabitants of Zijpe will have a harder time reaching officials, but it also creates the idea that citizens in general might have hard harder time ‘finding’ the right person. Lastly, the new municipality has introduced technological tools that empower citizens. Almost all reports are now published online. Online information enhances citizens’ ability to be informed and to match the knowledge of the executive. Citizens can also watch or re-watch council meetings online. One technological innovation, however, the online citizen platform that can inform the executive about citizens’ opinion, has not been used for wind energy yet
(executive, 27-5-15).
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The municipality of Schagen seems to have further limited the opportunities for developing wind energy policy since the merger. The wind energy budget has been cut in half, and the executive has stated that there will not be any new wind energy policy the following years. One executive mentioned that some of the decisions that were made during the Zijpe period would now not be accepted anymore. The dossier is considered as unimportant since possibilities for future action are limited.
This is partly because of differing histories with wind energy policy in the merging municipalities. The city of Schagen was never deemed an appropriate windmill site, had never proclaimed ambition in this policy area and did not feel obliged to take a positive stance on it (Chair SKPWZ, 21-5-15). Harenkarspel did have potential for wind energy. A windpark of three mills on the side of a road has been built. Public opinion in the village has, however, changed as it has in Zijpe, critical citizens greatly dominated public discussions. Local officials therefore could not provide a positive wind energy stance (ibid).
However, the new municipality is not against wind energy. The college states that the ‘’municipality will make possible windparks if they are in a line or park composition. Profits of new windparks will be shared with the population’’ (executive, 27-5-15). Because of their policy stance posing a structural limitation on the possibilities for wind energy, citizens remain limited in their possibilities to persuade the council and the executive of the need for new wind energy policy.
Even considering the small budget remaining for wind energy policy, the municipality still has two executives dealing with the policy area. However, the environmental aspects of wind energy policy were taken away from the executive responsible for renewable energy. The reason for this was that it was seen as a conflict of interest that the executive responsible for renewable energy owns a windmill (executive II, 5-6-15). Removing wind energy policy from the renewable energy dossier has further fragmented wind energy policy. For citizens, old lines of
communication have been cut by the removal of officials from certain dossiers. Citizens might have troubles trying to find the right person for questions, and they might have to deal with more executives to get their point across. However, since Zijpe was the most notorious in its
development of wind energy policy the new municipality of Schagen still employs most officials that were on this topic in Zijpe (ibid). These practitioners are aware of the conflicts took place in Zijpe and are therefore able to find the right people when certain topics are discussed (employee
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Schagen, 28-5-15).
11.3 Influencing topics up for discussion
In the new municipality, village councils are still a way for citizens to build ongoing
relationships with the executive. What can be discussed within these forums has, however, not been agreed on like in Zijpe (executive, 5-6-15). Furthermore, the merger has led to a fragmented and diversified population of village councils. A total of fifteen differently organized village councils has been accompanied by four wijken, another organizational form that the city of Schagen has (ibid). These focus more on social cohesion than spatial planning issues.
Harenkarspel only started with village councils shortly before the merger and these are having start-up problems (ibid).
In line with their attempts at professionalism Schagen has introduced a customer contact center for village councils in 2014 (executive, 5-6-15). This communication line was meant for the councils to file complaints or share ideas. Executives no longer discuss these during their weekly meeting, although they do try to visit every village at least once a year (ibid). This extra layer of bureaucracy can be seen as negatively impacting the possibilities of citizens to influence the executive directly. Dissatisfaction with this method is apparent in the fact that it is only being used regularly by six councils. A document stating the things that councils can expect from the municipality is still being worked on. The re-introduction of a direct communication line is also being discussed. Because of this, the executive predicted that the role of village councils will significantly increase in the future.
If the executive ends up issuing a proposal on wind energy, it is thus possible that it emerged out of ongoing relationships between the executive and village councils or out of lobbying, but it will no longer be discussed in a round table. The municipality of Zijpe was the only merging party with a history of round table meetings and the city of Harenkarspel pushed for a commission structure (ex-executive, 19-5-15). Commission meetings are very similar to round table conversations, but they limit the room for citizens to interrupt the discussion during its second term. They also do not allow for inter-citizen discussions that were allowed during round tables. Speaking time for citizens is being limited by this model. However, some have stated that the new structure is better for the general discussion and therefore better for the final decision because it prevents endless repetition of points of view, which was the problem in the
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discussion about Grote Sloot 158 (ibid).
Even against the background of this professionalism, the executive has tried to organize a meeting with all parties involved in the Grote Sloot 158 debate (executive II, 5-6-15). As said before, organizing these kind of meetings does not fall under any municipal protocol that
determines their appropriateness. However, citizens have not used the potential provided by this meeting. The executive ended up cancelling the meeting because of low turnout (ibid).
Direct relationships between the executive and citizens seem to have become less apparent in the new municipality because it has been impeded by a court case of a group of citizens against the executive that has created serious tensions. Since then, some citizens feel the municipality tries to hide behind Provincial documents (residents Sint Maartensbrug, 28-5-15). A further claim is that the executive has turned participation ‘on its head’ by asking the citizens to provide reasons not to place a new windmill in the case of Grote Sloot. They say that the executive only includes citizens to be able to say the citizenry has been heard (ibid). Citizens therefore increasingly go to the council representatives or to the Province to try and gain
influence (Chair SKPWZ, 27-5-15). They also claimed that the executive is ‘forcing them’ to go to court by their recent decision to allow mr. Schuijt of Grote Sloot 158 to place a windmill on the location that was initially permitted (residents Sint Maartensbrug, 28-5-15). The commission meeting held about Grote Sloot 158 at the beginning of June is a clear example of these tensions. The executive had to call upon people on the tribune to hold down their negative responses so he could tell his story.
11.4 Possibilities for joining an interest group
The power of interest groups has been limited in the new municipality because wind energy policy increasingly concerns existing cases. Three cases of upscaling an existing windmill have already been approved by the executive. Existing cases do not require the municipality to hear citizens as intensively as for new proposals (executive II, 5-6-15).
Some groups have still been able to organize meetings in cooperation with the executive and have thereby tried to steer the municipal agenda. A spokesperson for SKPWZ said that because of the sheer size of their movement they have still been busy trying to influence
municipal policy after the merger. However, during the recent Commission meeting about Grote Sloot 158 there was no spokesperson from SKPWZ, but one from a unified platform of the Dutch
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Cooperation of Residents (in Dutch: de Nederlandse Vereniging voor Omwonenden) which unites municipal organizations of people critical of wind energy in their living area. This means we might expect the organization to have ‘scaled-up’ to provide a counterweight to the
municipality during dealings at the level of the Province. Keep Zijpe Inhabitable or
Kennemerwind have not organized a get together with the municipality since the merger. They
have had contact with the municipality to discuss Grote Sloot 158.
11.5 Post-decision involvement
For citizens unsatisfied with decisions there is still a formal complaint procedure and the possibility to file complaints at the regional implementation service. However, dissatisfaction with these legal possibilities was demonstrated by court cases against the municipality of Zijpe. The new executive for the building aspect of wind energy still has the same jurists, legal advisers and approach as the executive in Zijpe used to have (executive II, 5-6-15). Room for citizens is thus restricted by the rule of law. The executive put it bluntly by saying, right or wrong, we have to put into effect the rule of law. Citizens said that the municipality keeps on following the rules even though reality sometimes makes creative solutions necessary, as with the inhabitant of the house next to Grote Sloot 158 (Residents Sint Maartensbrug, 28-5-15).
When talking about the illegal windmill of Grote Sloot 158 it becomes clear that the legal aspects of policymaking dominate the path that is being taken by the old and new municipality. The municipality was not keen on admitting the illegality of the windmill and therefore tried to bring its existence in line with legal demands so the windmill could be legalized (executive II, 5-6-15). Once the subject of the illegal windmill came up during interviews,
however, executives did not mention the citizens, or the citizens’ right to equal treatment in law. The wind turbine owner is being backed-up because of a legal permit the municipality handed out before it was permitted by the Province in the past.
One might expect the municipality to have no problem with telling the owner of the windmill to break it down since it had been placed in strive with the original permit. That the municipality has made such a big deal of the removal of the windmill shows that it values the relationship with the owner. The necessity of a court case to make the municipality follow the law makes clear that the judicial path is not always followed and some strategy might be behind (strictly) following or not following certain rules.
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Although the citizens eventually won it is clear that the judicial path is the most time consuming for them and that the municipality does not shy away from it (employee Schagen, 27-5-15). The executive said it accepts the idea that its decision on Grote Sloot will lead to the citizens going to court again (executive, 27-5-15).
Although it might have prevented the court procedure that will begin shortly after the most recent decision of the municipality, mediation has not been tried in the wind energy dossier. It has been seriously considered to sit down with ms. Vonk, the resident, and mr. Schuijt, the windmill owner in the Grote Sloot 158 case, but the executive thought that the differences between these parties had become too big for it to make any difference (executive, 27-5-15). It was perceived the parties would not be open to it.
12. Possibilities for citizens to participate, Zijpe and Schagen compared. Introduction
The situations of Zijpe and Schagen have provided us with the information needed to interpret how power in the policy process has been reordered. This information will now be used to interpret the way in which this reordering has affected the position of the citizen in the process. This will answer the last sub-question of this research, namely: are there any relevant changes in (possibilities) for citizen participation and to what extend could these changes have resulted from the merger?
To structure the interpretation, the scheme below provides an overview of the changes after the merger.
23 - Position of the citizen in the policy process after the merger-
12.1 Agenda-setting
Citizens in the municipality of Zijpe could try to issue a wind energy issue via their respective village council, and via the lobbying of representatives. As the red square on the high left of the scheme illustrates, both of these settings have changed after the merger.
Lobbying has lost in importance since the municipality has been pushing for more professionalism. However, the organization of information – and discussion evenings is still
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taking place, which illustrates that the executive still responds to the invitations of interest groups. This means the move towards professionalism should not be exaggerated. More important in this respect is that citizens are increasingly ignoring the possibilities of lobbying since invitations by the executive are being declined and the position of citizens thereby becomes less evident to the executive. This means that direct relationships between individual citizens and the executive have lost in importance and that citizens might be undermining their own position. This might be considered an affirmation of the theory on reduced citizen involvement after mergers presented by Larsen earlier. However, this seems an invalid conclusion since the process of wind energy policy development, rather than the process leading up to the merger, seems to have stimulated the behavior of citizens in the new municipality. This behavior should
furthermore not be exaggerated since citizens are increasingly contacting the city-council when trying to issue a claim.
Changes in the structure and form of village councils has produced uncertainty
surrounding their status and legitimacy in influencing spatial planning. The population of village councils has been enlarged and diversified since the merger. The added layer of bureaucracy through the customer contact service means that long-term reciprocal relationships between villagers and the executive can no longer be guaranteed. Changes in the composition and content of executive-council relationships reduced the possibilities for citizens to influence the municipal agenda through village councils. It is not yet clear how future changes will affect their position. Citizens in the municipality of Schagen will experience more difficulties in trying to put wind energy on the municipal agenda.
A further limitation for agenda-setting is the structural limitations posed by the policy stance of the executive. Policy documents that have been issued since the merger have only extended the limitations posed by the Windnotitie of Zijpe by cutting half of the budget for wind energy policy. Although the municipality states it is not against wind energy initiatives, it has virtually made any initiative impossible by stating that there is no room for line-compositions in the new municipality. The room for citizens to set a wind energy initiative on the agenda has essentially been annihilated.
12.2 Influencing topics up for decision
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initiatives in sight, wind energy policy will increasingly come to concern existing cases in which the citizen can largely be excluded.
The new commission structure, in itself limiting the possibilities of citizens to influence the discussion, will therefore have little value for wind energy policies in the future. The commission meeting that has been held on Grote Sloot 158 did concern an existing case, but since this case is essentially unique in that it concerns a judicial dispute, it should not be seen as representative for the way in which changes in existing cases will be dealt with.
Although cooperation with the executive is still taking place and the executive has a positive view of his cooperation with interest groups, it is unclear what the role of interest groups can be now existing cases dominate decision-making.
12.3 Joining an interest group
Citizens opposing or proposing wind energy in the municipality of Zijpe had the opportunity to join well-organized social movements in the form of SKPWZ, Keep Zijpe Inhabitable and Kennemerwind. The policy stance of the executive has limited the possibilities for social movement to influence decision-making since existing cases are very difficult to influence. Another element relevant for social movements is the strive towards professionalism because it also limits the lobbying capacities of interest groups.
Interest groups also suffer from the status of the policy area of wind energy in the new municipality. Citizens with a stake in the wind energy domain thus seem to have been
outnumbered by those who don’t. This does seem to affirm a combination of the idea of reduced citizen involvement after mergers provided by Larsen, if we combine it with the theory of Paasi and Zimmenbauer. The merger has resulted in a shared identity that contradicts the one that prevailed in Zijpe, thereby limiting citizen involvement in general. However, me might conclude that citizens who were involved before the merger are still involved after the merger and that the reduction of participation in the wind energy policy area is only due to the enlarged number of possible participants. Some social movements, like SKPWZ seem to have anticipated this by scaling up and going to the Province more often, but since existing cases limit their influence interest groups will suffer the same fate as citizens in their being kept outside of the
26 12.4 Post-decision involvement
For citizens wanting to influence the implementation process there was the Regional Implementation Service (in the scheme: RIS). This service, however, did not enhance the
possibilities of citizens to influence policy because complaints were depoliticized handling them in a legal setting. The new municipality has not changed in its approach towards implementation issues. Most of Zijpe’s these bureaucrats have come along to the new municipality, which means that the possibilities of citizens to change existing policy strategies are limited. They have
become even more limited since the court case against the municipality has showed that the executive does not shy away from using the legal route to deal with implementation related issues, which are time consuming and costly for the citizens.
The municipality of Zijpe was slowly introduced to the topic of mediation before the merger. However, it was never attempted within the wind energy dossier. Although it has been seriously considered since the merger, the possibilities of citizens to come to a desired outcome through mediation are at least meagre. The executive does not attempt to bring parties together if he perceives them as being too far apart. Since this judgement is being made before the parties are contacted it is likely that future possibilities for mediation will be overlooked or ignored.
13. Conclusion:
The scheme below provides an overview of the possibilities for citizens to participate during the policymaking process in the municipality of Zijpe and the municipality of Schagen. The fourth column of the table states the way in which the position of the citizen has changed after the merger. If these changes are taken together it becomes clear that the possibilities for citizens to influence policy making in the wind energy policy area have not only declined, but have been taken away completely. Agenda-setting through village council involvement or lobbying has become nearly impossible. There is no room for maneuvering in the policy stance taken by the municipality and existing cases do not require the involvement of either citizens or interest groups. Even the implementation of existing cases is nearly impossible to influence because of the strictly depoliticized approach of the executive. It remains to be seen if citizens will start to use their remaining tools, either going to the Province, or going to court, to influence existing cases.
27 - Previous page: Possibilities of citizens in the policy process of Schagen compared with Zijpe-
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It must be mentioned, however, that the last column makes clear that some limitations to citizen action, like in the area of lobbying, have not completely flowed out of the merger. For others, like the room for maneuvering provided by the stance of the executive and the room of social
movements, the merger only further enlarged limitations that already existed. For some, like post-decision involvement, the merger was of no importance. However, it does seem to be the case that the merger structurally limited the possibilities for citizens to take part in the policymaking process and to participate on an equal footing with the executive. The possibilities for citizens to influence wind energy policy in the municipality of Zijpe have been severly reduced.
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