Reduction in public places in Utrecht; Smaller trees and no more sheep

Young trees and sheep stop grazing in Máxima Park. These are two new austerity measures in public places. It was previously announced that street lights would be on for less time, and that less money would be spent on city beautification such as murals.

The municipality of Utrecht faces a major challenge in cutting costs, but cuts – also known as retrenchment – in public spaces have already been planned and announced earlier. It is now clear how this will take shape.

One of the previously announced measures is that street lighting in the city will be on for a shorter period. Lighting turns on later and turns off earlier, so there are fewer hours of burning per day.

The so-called on-off moment deviates from what it was before by a maximum of 20 minutes. By 2023, the municipality will have already managed to save energy by 7.1 percent, although new LED lighting will also contribute to this.

The municipality also announced earlier the postponement of main sidewalk maintenance work, especially in places with less traffic, such as residential areas. Therefore the paving may be more uneven in some places.

Sheep and trees

One of the new measures that was announced is that the sheep herd will stop grazing in Máxima Park. The second measure is for the municipality to plant smaller trees, either when replacing trees or when replacing new trees. The municipality indicates that it will remain on the sidelines, because rules have previously been set regarding “replanting according to value.”

The municipality itself writes about it: “The replacement with younger trees is widespread throughout the city. For this reason the (visual) impact will be minimal. There are no compromises in the number of plants planted.”

The latest austerity measure is a more general one, with less money being spent on “interesting, special and exceptional amenities in the city” such as murals.