Park Nauerna: transformation of former landfill into recreational paradise

On 14 November 2024, the North Holland provincial administration, the municipality of Zaanstad, waste management company Afvalzorg and Belangengroep Nauerna (BGN), an advocacy group for local residents, signed an agreement on recreation in Park Nauerna. The park will be constructed on a former landfill site near Assendelft in the municipality of Zaanstad. Witteveen+Bos and TAUW, united as Adviescombinatie Volgermeer (ACV), made a major contribution to this breakthrough by providing detailed technical, policy and legal advice.
In 2019, at the request of the municipality of Zaanstad, ACV started developing recommendations for safe recreation on the landfill site. These began with a second opinion in response to a report on the feasibility of safe recreation on the site without capping.
At that time, ACV concluded that insufficient safety guarantees could be given, as leachate (water that has been in contact with waste material) was detected on the surface and due to the possibility of exposure to landfill gas.
Amended zoning plan
The experts from ACV also concluded that the assessment framework used to sample landfill gas was not appropriate for evaluating potential recreational use of the site. The Zaanstreek-Waterland public health service (GGD) confirmed this assessment. As a result, the municipality closed the part of the park that had already been opened on the north side of the site.
Our recommendations eventually led the municipality to amend the zoning plan for the landfill site in September 2020 to make recreational use conditional on capping of the site. Capping involves the installation of a layer that water cannot penetrate. This may consist of a membrane that prevents rainwater from infiltrating the landfill. When combined with a landfill gas system, capping also greatly reduces the potential exposure to landfill gas. In the amendment, the municipality did however state that the obligation to install capping may be waived if an assessment framework developed by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) confirms that this is safe.
Safe recreation
The amendment to the zoning plan resulted in an appeal to the Council of State. ACV supported the municipality’s case with specific technical advice. The operator of the landfill site in particular objected to the installation of capping, as this would make ‘sustainable landfill management’ in the future impossible.
However, the municipality stood by its position that failure to install capping would be detrimental to facilitating safe recreation at the time the decision was taken. On 29 March 2023, the Council of State ruled in favour of the municipality on all points.

Assessment framework focused on Nauerna
The provincial administration of North Holland subsequently commissioned the RIVM to develop the assessment framework for recreation on former landfill sites and apply it to the situation at Nauerna. ACV contributed to this assessment framework on behalf of the municipality.
Based on this assessment and following careful consideration of the interests of all stakeholders, an agreement on the redevelopment of the landfill site was eventually reached.
The interests that played a prominent role in this agreement include being able to guarantee safe recreation on the landfill site in advance, opening the park or parts thereof in the short term and being able to adopt sustainable landfill management practices in the future.
Acceptable solution for all parties
The result of this agreement is shown in the image below. It shows how capping will be installed on the most high-risk parts of the landfill, i.e., the northern embankments.
The flatter, upper parts of the landfill will be covered with soil and drainage installed. This area will be monitored for the potential release of landfill gas. If landfill gas ‘hotspots’ are identified, specific measures will be taken in response.
This solution brings an end to a process that began more than five years ago, with measures that were developed jointly by all stakeholders and that are acceptable to all parties.
Park Nauerna is designed to serve a wide range of users: walkers, cyclists, horse riders, nature lovers, athletes, dog owners and children. At present – late 2024 – seven hectares of the park are already open to visitors. Another twelve hectares will be opened in the coming years; this is the area where capping will be installed. The expectation is that this area will be fully ready for safe use within three years, raising the total recreational area to nineteen hectares. The remainder of the park will be opened later, once the top layer with drainage is installed and a survey has been completed. Once it has been demonstrated that this area is also suitable for safe recreation, the municipality of Zaanstad will initiate a spatial planning procedure to make this possible.
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