Future vision for Burgemeester Vernède Park and Dr. J.W. Paltelaan
Burgemeester Vernède Park is very valuable as a city park, but it is also aging and is therefore receiving a new impetus. The presence of the many sports and educational facilities in this area provide a healthy living environment, mutual meeting and development opportunities for residents from all over the city. Housing development at Dr. J.W. Paltelaan and 185 Eerste Stationsstraat contributes to the great need for housing in our city. This is stated in the future vision for the Burgemeester Vernède Park and Dr. J.W. Paltelaan area. The future vision has been incorporated into a draft environmental program.
Green area
Due to the central location of Burgemeester Vernède Park, its proximity to public transport stations and its many amenities, the park will continue to be a place visited by many people and where many different activities take place. The Burgemeester Vernèdepark will have a stronger own identity, with more diversity in the greenery and more opportunities to stay, move and meet each other. The park will have a better connection with nearby parks via the Delftsewallenwetering. The cycling and walking routes will also be improved.
Sports and education
Traditionally, many sports facilities have been located in Mayor Vernède Park. The sports clubs would like to stay there, some have expansion wishes. The 2BHome building (located on the corner of Delftsewallenwetering and Van Stolberglaan) will eventually be demolished. A new multifunctional sports complex will be built on this site. The new sports complex will have a double sports hall with facilities for school gymnastics, korfball and basketball. The starting point is that the Jeu de Boules Club and Racing Club, which are now elsewhere in the park, will also be housed in the sports complex. The park will also house a pavilion for youth culture such as music and dance school, freerunning and community work. The skate track from the park will also move to this location.
Educational institutions have also been located along Paltelaan from the beginning. The current elementary schools will remain in the area and furthermore, there is room for 2 educational functions on Dr. J.W. Paltelaan.
Housing
The pressure on the housing market is great. Therefore, the vision for the future looks at where housing construction is possible. There are opportunities for up to 600 new homes, especially for 1 and 2 person households, such as starters and seniors. There are wishes to realize shared housing in the area, especially for the elderly. The possibilities for this will be further investigated.
There is room for housing development on an empty lot on Dr. J.W. Paltelaan, and space will become available when De Driesprong swimming pool is demolished. There are also plans to replace the office building at 185 Eerste Stationsstraat with an apartment building up to 45 meters high with 150 to 200 homes. On the first floor will be workspaces and a parking garage. This replaces an earlier plan of 280 to 320 homes with a building height of 90 meters that proved unfeasible after a participatory process.
Participation
The new plans for Mayor Vernède Park and Dr. J.W. Paltelaan were made after an extensive participatory process with residents, sports clubs and other organizations. In recent months there have been meetings, walks, discussion tables and a survey in which everyone was able to participate. All reports can be found at the bottom of this page under 'Documents'. It has given the municipality a lot of insight into what you think is important for the future of the area. On May 22, 2024 the municipality presented how all given ideas, wishes and tasks have been incorporated into 3 variants of an area vision for the Vernède Park and Paltelaan area. With the reactions during this meeting and the reactions through Doemee, a preferred variant was worked on. On September 24, 2024, the preferred variant was presented during the final meeting.
Draft environment program
The preferred variant was incorporated into a draft environmental program. The draft environmental program was released for public inspection by the college on January 21, 2025. This means you were able to respond to it.
The draft environment program can be found digitally on Rules on the Map of the Environment Desk. At 'Search document' enter: Omgevingsprogramma gemeente Zoetermeer area Burgemeester Vernèdepark and Dr. J.W. Paltelaan.
After March 13, 2025, all reactions were bundled and a response (reaction) from the municipality was prepared to all submitted views. This response was adopted by the city council on April 8, 2025, together with the council proposal to approve the draft environmental program. The draft environmental program was sent to the city council for placing on the agenda with the request to agree to the draft environmental program. The college then adopts the environmental program. This is expected to happen before the summer of 2025.
The environmental program gives an outline of the area, i.e. which function (green, sports, working, living and the like) will go where. The precise interpretation of these functions will follow in a further elaboration. This elaboration (implementation agenda) will start after the board has adopted the environmental program. After adoption of the implementation agenda projects will start to realize parts of the environment program. After adoption of the implementation agenda projects will start to realize parts of the environment program.
The follow-up for the 185 Eerste Stationsstraat site is as follows. With the responses from the meeting on Sept. 24, 2024, the developer is developing a preferred model. This was shown at a follow-up meeting on Dec. 11, 2024. For more information, visit developer ArthurArmstrong's website: Eerste Stationsstraat 185 - New construction in Zoetermeer.
Questions?
Have questions? Send an e-mail to projectenpmv@zoetermeer.nl with the subject line: Environmental Program Vernède Park and Paltelaan. We will get back to you as soon as possible.