page_title: Binnendieze
section_title: Fight for conservation
hierarchical_section_title: Binnendieze / Fight for conservation
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Op de muur bevestigde plaquette met de twee hoofden van Jan van der Eerden en Hein Bergé
context_page_description: Binnendieze is the common name for all rivers and canals inside the city walls of 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. It is a major tourist attraction. Near the north-west tip of the city walls, the confluence of the Binnendieze with the rivers Aa and Dommel forms the short river Dieze, tributary of the Meuse.
context_section_description: After the Binnendieze lost its defensive and transport functions, it became something like an open sewer in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Later alternative waste disposal techniques became available, e.g. very wide sewer pipes that were laid at the bottom of the streams . In the 1920s the Doode Stroom was the first part of the Binnendieze that was filled up after a concrete sewer pipe had been installed. There was some regret, but there were no protests, because public health benefited. Nevertheless, even before World War II the possibilities for tourism where somewhat understood, and in the mid 1930s the first boat trips for tourists were organized.
  The real threat for the Binnendieze would come from the growth of automobile traffic after World War II. In 's-Hertogenbosch it led to the Marktroom and old city moat getting filled up without much protest in 1962. Then, while the national government was busy making a list of monuments to protect the national heritage, the corporation was secretly preparing Structure plan 1964. This plan entailed motorways that cut off corners of the city center, and 'breakthrough's'. All in all about 25% of all buildings in the center would be destroyed, the Binnenhaven would be filled up, and nothing much would be left of the Binnendieze. It was presented only 6 days before it would be treated in the municipal council. Structure plan 1964 led to a storm of protest from locals, united in the Comité Behoud Binnenstad (Committee to preserve the inner city), but also from many national organizations. The plan survived the vote, but this was only the start of the struggle.
  During the first years the local protest movement did not have any real power. This changed in September 1966, when Hein Bergé and Jan van der Eerden got elected to the municipal council for the new party Beter Bestuur (better government). Bergé and Van der Eerden struggled for the preservation of the city center, and in particular for preserving the Binnendieze. Almost immediately after getting elected they asked for a report that had been made about the Binnendieze. It took the municipal government 23 months to deliver this report to the council. Later it was found that the existing report had been suppressed and a new report had been made. The new report combined the future of the Binnendieze and the construction of a sewer system, which the city center did not have yet. The report advised that the cheapest way to realize the sewer system was to use the Binnendieze as a location and then to fill it up. It would also create room for roads, and parking space. Only a segment of the Vughterstroom and two small fragments of the Groote Stroom would remain.
  In January 1969 the fate of the Binnendieze would be decided in a meeting of the municipal council. Meanwhile the Rijksdienst voor Monumentenzorg (national heritage service), informed by Beter Bestuur had a different opinion. On the third day of the debate, a sketch arrived from The Hague, designating large parts of the Binnendieze as protected cityscape. Despite heavy opposition the plan survived the debate with a big majority. However, actually executing it had become very difficult because of the intervention from The Hague. On 21 December 1972 the government issued a decree that protected the inner city of 's-Hertogenbosch. By then the corporation, under the new mayor G. van de Ven had already changed course.
caption: Plaquette in memory of Bergé and Van der Eerden
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