The Mutsers family did not get permission to expand the hotel: ‘Then we must use migrant workers’

Johnny Juntgens-Mutsers, says he is at the end of his knowledge. She has been renovating the hotel behind the sea wall for over sixteen years. The family bought the hotel in 2000 and ran it for twelve years, now leasing it to the Fletcher Group for ten years.

The lease expires on April 1, and the family wanted to use that moment to reopen the hotel. But in a new modern jacket, the shelter is now very outdated.

The hotel now has 35 rooms and four conference rooms. It should be 57 excluding apartments. According to owner Janny Zoontjens, he now has ‘three suitcases full of drawings and plans’ because in recent years he has had to adjust construction drawings at the request of the municipality. “We talked to the neighbors, added shops and we always met all the requests.”

The most recent plans are based on 57 rooms and 63 flats, as the municipality stipulates that shops should be built on the ground floor around a village-like square. In 2019, the family finalized a letter of intent with the municipality to build a new hotel, which appeared to be the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ for Johnny Juntjens.

But Slois set the signals red again shortly before Christmas. The building is five storeys high and especially that height is a barrier.

The municipality’s appraisal board already ruled last year that the building did not fit into Newell’s master plan, in which – unlike the Gatchant-Bad and Brescens – there was no room for tall buildings. Meanwhile, locals also discussed new construction projects. They thought it was too much. In addition, they come very close to their homes.

Janny Zoontjens: “We asked for a second opinion because we felt that the butcher should not inspect his own meat. We presented the cream de la Creme in urban planning by architect Sergio Herman Jo Con கோn. He was positive about our plans.”