Beekdaelen


Beekdaelen is a municipality in the province of Limburg, situated in the southern Netherlands. It was formed as a merger of Nuth, Onderbanken and Schinnen.
Beekdaelen has 35,853 inhabitants. It does not have a capital. The town hall of the municipality is currently situated in the village Nuth, which is the biggest population centre in the municipality with 6,520 inhabitants. The other fourteen villages in the municipality are Amstenrade with 2,670 inhabitants, Bingelrade with 796 inhabitants, Doenrade with 1,122 inhabitants, Hulsberg with 3,954 inhabitants, Jabeek with 752 inhabitants, Merkelbeek with 1,564 inhabitants, Oirsbeek with 3,733 inhabitants, Puth with 2,004 inhabitants, Schimmert with 3,236 inhabitants, Schinnen with 2,692 inhabitants, Schinveld with 4,629 inhabitants, Sweikhuizen with 690 inhabitants, and Wijnandsrade with 1,631 inhabitants. The other population centres belong to one of the following villages.

Politics

The government of Beekdaelen is the government of the municipality of Beekdaelen in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. Beekdaelen has been its own municipality since a merger of the old municipalities of Nuth, Onderbanken, and Schinnen. The municipality covers fifteen villages, the town hall is currently located in the village of Nuth. The first municipal election in Beekdaelen was in 2018.

Local government

Results of the elections of 2018, and 2022:

Municipal government 2018–2022

Following the 2018 municipal elections a coalition was formed consisting of CDA, Vernieuwingsgroep, GroenLinks, and PvdA. In total 8 parties took part in the election, with 7 parties obtaining at least one seat.
In September 2021, Leon Rijkx left his party. He cited "the problematic culture within the local department of CDA". He joined the Vernieuwingsgroep and took his council seat with him, this increased the seat total of the Vernieuwingsgroep to 7 and decreased the seat total of CDA to 6, making the Vernieuwingsgroep the biggest party in terms of seat total.
NamePortfolioParty-
Eric GeurtsMayor of Beekdaelen
General Affairs, Safety, Integrity, Legal Affairs, & Communications
PvdA
Jan HermansSpatial Development, Public Space, Housing, & Traffic and TransportVernieuwingsgroep
Jeannette Quadvlieg-van DamWellbeing, Loneliness, Aircraft Noise Disturbance, Water and Sewage,
Civic Integration, & Social Affairs
Vernieuwingsgroep
Jos TimmermansEnergy Transition, Business Terrain, Entrepreneurs, & CoordinationCDA
Peter JanssenFinance, Youth Care, & EducationCDA
John EssersSport and Associations, Arts and Culture,
Quality of Life Initiatives, Health Care
GL and PvdA

Municipal government 2022–present

Following the 2022 municipal elections a coalition was formed consisting of Vernieuwingsgroep, Beekdaelen Lokaal, and CDA. In total 7 parties took part in the election, with all parties obtaining at least one seat.
Leon Rijkx and Ton Kollée left Vernieuwingsgroep over disagreements with the party and the coalition on the location for the new town hall, leaving Vernieuwingsgroep with 5 seats. They currently sit on the municipal council as "Fractie Rijkx - Kollée".
NamePortfolioParty-
Eric GeurtsMayor of Beekdaelen
Safety & Internal Affairs
PvdA
Henk ReijndersHousing, Economy & EnvironmentBeekdaelen Lokaal
Jan HermansPublic Works & Energy TransitionVernieuwingsgroep
Peter JanssenFinance, Youth Care, & EducationCDA
Levin de KosterSport, Culture & HealthVernieuwingsgroep

Topography

''Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of Beekdaelen, November 2018''

Notable people