So far, so good …

Remembrance in Military Garden of Honour

Monday 10 May 2010 – An official remembrance service will take place at 14.00 in the Municipal Cemetery on Kerkhoflaan to honour the 167 service personnel who gave their lives in the early days of May in 1940 during the battle for the Residentie.

For more information: www.oorlogsgravendenhaag.com

STICHTING HERDENKING MILITAIRE EREHOF ’S-GRAVENHAGE

A.J.F. Bos, chairman

Largest Volunteer Work Campaign

(formerly Make A Difference Day / MADD)

19 (& 20) March - 16.00 - 18.00

Because of the great success in 2009, De Slinger Den Haag and HOF, Promotie Haags Vrijwiligerswerk are again organizing De Haagse Beursvloer (a sort of social stock exchange) to match social organizations and volunteer groups with businesses in The Hague who have the particular expertise they need.

More information

Extra helping hands: "NL DOET" Friday 19 March 2010

Hof - Promotie Haags Vrijwilligerswerk (promoting volunteer work in The Hague) matches supply and demand in its campaign entitled “NL DOET”.

Could your volunteer group do with some extra helping hands on Friday 19 March? The first offer of help is in!

Who are the volunteers?

20 to 30 employees (10 to 15 per job) from one organization.

What sort of volunteer work?

• Odd jobs: painting, tidying-up a courtyard, garden or playground ready for the summer.
• Help with social events: arrange “high-tea” for the elderly, or organize a treasure hunt for people confined to wheelchairs.

When?

Friday 19 March 2010, for the whole day.

Send in your job request

E-mail a short description of the job you would like done to m.boss@hofnet.nl

More information

Local kids doing their bit for Haiti

21 January 2010 - Lloyd, Warner and Walt have been going house-to-house in our neighbourhood collecting empty returnable deposit bottles as a way of raising funds to help the people of Haiti.

All three go to the Schoolvereniging Wolters on Utenbroekestraat. The disaster on this island on the other side of the world has touched them in a particularly personal way: one of their schoolmates has lost a member of her family in the disaster.

Webteam

House catches fire in Celebesstrat

Request for an extension licence for seven days rejected

August 2009 - Dear Webteam, We have received a response from the Council to our appeal against the request by the club-restaurant on Javastraat/Balistraat for an extension licence. It has rejected the request to remain open till 5 o’clock in the morning seven days a week, but has agreed to the old arrangement for two days of the week with a couple of changes in the original formulation. We will be distributing a flyer to our neighbours with the details and would appreciate you publishing the contents on the website:

Balistraat fears consequences of extension licence Javastraat

Dear Webteam,
We are looking for support for the lodging of an appeal with the municipal council against the request by a club-restaurant on Javastraat/Balistraat for an extension licence and would appreciate you publishing the following flyer:

Dear fellow residents, We would like to bring the following to your attention: A new bar-cum-restaurant-cum-disco called “Thirty Seven” will be opening soon at the corner of Javastraat and Balistraat, where until recently the club de Strass was located. The new owner has submitted a request for an extension licence, which means that not only will the club be open on Friday and Saturday nights as was the case with Strass, but the whole week from Monday to Sunday from 7 p.m. until 4 a.m. We live directly opposite the premises (which has its entrance on Balistraat) and in the past suffered a great deal of inconvenience from the noise, urinating against cars and front doors, broken glass on the street and last but not least fights, arguments, honking klaxons, loss of parking spaces and so on and so on. As you can imagine we are not happy at the prospect of the same again but then every night of the week! We intend to lodge an appeal with The Hague city council and encourage like-minded fellow residents to support us. Please download and complete the protest form and pop it in one of our letter boxes. We welcome any other suggestions for action. Kind regards, F.V. Bridié, Balistraat 2 A.C.Z. Henke, Balistraat 2d R. Klip, Balistraat 2g R.C. Swart, Balistraat 2h

20 June 2009

Inconsiderate and dangerous

To my utter amazement last Saturday morning outside Exotenhof the greengrocer, I suddenly saw a lady get out of her car that she had not even parked properly on the corner, but haphazardly some way from the curb. Her response to my comment about her strange way of parking was “I’m just popping in to get something”, and she headed inside.

Inside another local also commented on her strange parking behaviour. The lady looked at us both and asked if we were from the police, “No, madam. We’re local residents who are concerned about safety and the quality of life in this neighbourhood.” She told us she was a local too and finally asked her husband to move the car. He took his time so I was able to take this photograph.

Ter lering en vermaak.

(for education and enjoyment)

EPB, 20 June 2009

Editorial note: Unfortunately, this kind of behaviour is becoming more and more common. Let's give a bit more thought to where we park. We want our neighbourhood to be remain a pleasant and safe place to live, don't we?

Verzonden: dinsdag 5 mei 2009 11:32
Onderwerp: bike stolen in front of the police station

Just a statistic

Not sure if this is newsworthy at all, but I guess I can find some relief in sharing my experience

What? Well I am slightly ticked off due to the fact that someone stole my bike (2 locks) on Saturday 2 May, which was parked outside the entrance of Couperus Duin I, right opposite of the police station! You would think it would be safe there.

It was only parked there 2 hours (!) as I usually park it in my cellar.

When I tried to file a report at the Police Station, they indicated that this was very unfortunate for me, but there was not really anything they could do for me (mere statistics). I do understand that the police have more important things to do, but I thought we pay taxes for this? The police administrator indicated that unfortunately some people do not have the same values with regard to the belongings of other people and simply do not care and are not afraid to steal, even in front of a Police Station.

Well, I have learned my lesson and will not park my bike outside my house anymore.  

Kind regards,

Madeleine

Date: Tue, 5 May 2009 16:21:53 +0200

Memories of “car(e)free” Sundays in Rome

I can only say that I have a magic memory of Rome and the " no cars Sundays " we had there in the 1970s ... 

They didn't only contribute to less pollution.

Many people saw the environment in which they normally moved through in a car from a totally different perspective.

This contributed to a greater feeling of belonging to a beautiful place.

Only then, did some people realize how much their participation contributed to creating a more human city and preserving the beauty we all have around us.

There is a now chance for you to contribute to such an experience.

The local Hague newspaper “De Posthoorn” is asking people to give their preference for one Sunday (or more) without cars in The Hague.

Vote by visiting http://www.deweekkrant.nl/de_posthoorn
and sending an e-mail to redactie.ph@whm.wegener.nl to explain exactly how and when.

Luisa Gorelli

(via Irene Vonck and Karen Kommer)

Appeal from The Hague Red Cross office

at Koninginnegracht 92

The Hague RODE KRUIS seeks collectors

The Netherlands Red Cross will be making its annual house-to-house collection during the week 15 - 20 June. In our neighbourhood this will take place on 15 June. This is an important source of income for the Red Cross’ activities. In The Hague around 250 volunteers go door-to-door and 40 companies fly the Red Cross flag.

Would you be prepared to collect for the Red Cross for a couple of hours? Then please get in contact with us at 070 350 53 33 or www.rodekruisdenhaag.nl

Clinker miracle in Timorstraat: councils listens

5 Februay 2010 – A miracle! I had a quick word with the paviours and realized I’d got the wrong end of the stick.

At the insistence of the residents of the apartment complex on Timorstraat, the council had arranged for clinkers from elsewhere be used to replace the recently installed concrete paving stones. My jaw dropped.

And now just the ugly section in the direction up to Burgemeester Patijnlaan, and the south side of Timorstraat will again be back to how it ought to be.

Have a good weekend,

Walther Wind

Again council replaces old Waal bricks in Timorstraat with ugly, concrete pavers

Monday 1 February 2010 – The Hague Municipal Council has once again plundered the old Waal bricks from a stretch of pavement in Timorstraat, replacing them with grey, concrete paving stones. (See article from March 2009.). What is noteworthy is that within a council designated Beschermde Stadsgezicht (conservation area), next to the Jewish Cemetery, which is a national monument, and in one of the Archipelbuurt’s most majestic streets, the council’s planning department officers are alert to every small detail when it comes to renovations and interior and external alterations to all private properties, but choose to ignore their own regulations when it suits them.

The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, who scrutinizes everything down to the last nail and screw in the district, knows about the plundering but does not intend to take any action. Too bad, our Administrators are again causing irretrievable damage to a piece of The Hague against the wishes of the citizens affected.

I would also like to bring to your attention the fact that at the behest of the government and without any consultation or notification, measuring instruments have been permanently anchored in the walls of privately owned properties and the Jewish Cemetery. Here too, the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission is aware of what is going on but says (as do all other council departments) that there is nothing it can do because the perpetrators cannot be identified. 
 

Walther W.P.H.M. Wind

Malakkastraat 147

---

RE: stoep Timorstraat
Datum: Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:17:49 +0100

Pavement clinkers in Timorstraat claimed for Lange Voorhout

On 11 and 12 March 2009, some overzealous council labourers removed an area of pavement adjoining the Jewish cemetery wall in Timorstraat. At first we thought they were going to fell a tree because the container they had with them was extremely large. But imagine our surprise when the next day they began to refill the gap with very ordinary, grey square paving stones. After making enquiries at the road maintenance authority, we learnt that the old clinkers (Waal bricks) were needed elsewhere in The Hague: in fact on Lange Voorhout where a hole had to be filled at very short notice. It had not been possible to arrange delivery in time (of course, they have only been working on the street for how many months was it again!) It wouldn’t surprise me if it had something to do with the CPC ...

The council authority assured me that no more clinkers would be removed (I bet) but in the meantime we look out precisely on the changeover from old to new. They started the same kind of “improvement” on Burg. Patijnlaan and in the last section of Timorstraat just before Ary van der Spuyweg: slowly but surely the council is making our lives greyer and more ordinary. In the meantime I have reported the incident to Monumentenzorg (Historic Buildings Trust), which will look into what they can do…

Kind regards from a sombre resident,

Alexandra Boucher, Timorstraat 131

2 March 2009

Lack of birds in your garden?

I just read in the February issue of the A&W Community newspaper that some local residents are upset about the lack of birds in their gardens. This does not have to be the case. We live in a neigbourhood so close to the woods and several green areas, it is not difficult to attract birds into your garden. We have a small, paved, walled garden in Batjanstraat in which we have counted 16 different species of birds in the past few months and where various birds regularly visit. We have made the garden greener by installing containers with flowers and shrubs. There is also a tree, in which we have hung bird-cake balls (made of melted fat and a mixture of ingredients such as seeds, nuts, dried fruit and oatmeal) and a fir-cone filled with bird feed.

In our small city garden we regularly see the Great Spotted Woodpecker (on the tree and the bird food), the Great Tit and Blue Tit (on the bird cake balls) and every now and again the Long-tailed Tit. And on the ground, after the fallen debri, we see the Dunnock and also the Robin, the Wren, the Blackbird and the Finch.

Many people also often get the less popular Wood Pigeon and various members of the crow family (Crow, Jackdaw and Magpie) and when we hung up the strings of peanuts we got Ring-necked Parakeets and Jays. Once, even a single Herring Gull ventured onto the peanuts.

Yolande de Kok - 2 March 2009

The Vrienden van Den Haag (Friends of The Hague) club is calling upon the municipal government to add English to the descriptions of the historical monuments in The Hague.

Message from Parijs

Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2008 13:28:28 +0100

To: <website@archipelbuurt.nl>

Your site was totally new to me and I am very impressed. I used to live in Malakkastraat and Javastraat and stayed with a titled Lady in the Alexanderhof and a friend in Malle Molen, opposite where Lottie vd Gaag lived. I also knew Baronesse Snoeckaert van Schouwberg (Javastraat) very well or Mrs. Stegeman, the painter Theo Bitter and several other people. All between 1959 and 1970.

If you have a digital newsletter, I would like to receive it!

Kind regards,

Eduard Danser

Paris