Roel Wever the 2026 Coalition Agreement

What does Mayor Roel Wever think Roel Wever the agreement?

Roel Wever mayor of Heerlen and chairman of the Parkstad Limburg urban region. He responds to the agreement:

"The agreement is very much in line with what we at Parkstad have requested. Before Christmas, we sent a letter to the parties that form the cabinet. I am pleased that attention is being paid to:

• Making Chemelot more sustainable
• The arrival of the Einstein Telescope

But I am concerned about the plans for social security and Health. These plans will hit our region hard. They could lead to more poverty. And people may start Health because it becomes too expensive.

More locations for new construction throughout the Netherlands

Wever says: "The coalition wants to increase the number of large new-build areas in the Netherlands from 21 to 30. I hope that Parkstad will be one of those 30 areas. There is enough space for this here:

• New companies
• Talent
• Housing construction

We are already working on a kind of 'new city' with 300,000 inhabitants. This city builds on our Roman, Medieval, and mining history. It would be great if we could agree on a comprehensive approach. Then we can tackle everything at once: housing, work, transportation, green spaces, and amenities. If we do this right, we will create strong communities and better neighborhoods."

Program for quality of life continues

"I am pleased that the National Program for Liveability and Safety is continuing. This will allow us to continue working on Heerlen North until 2035. However, I would like to see a clear follow-up to the 'Every Region Counts' report and the 'Regional Deals'. It is unclear what this means for the approach to neighborhoods and districts in the rest of Parkstad."

Opportunities for AI and innovation

The agreement places a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship, AI, international talent, and knowledge institutions. The decision to strengthen innovation campuses is important. These campuses bring together education, research, and businesses.
This offers opportunities for our Brightlands Campus, which focuses on data and AI. We can position ourselves as the European AI region.
The agreement does not mention an 'AI Gigafactory' in the Netherlands. This gives us the opportunity to collaborate with Germany. We can support the plan for an AI factory in Aachen/Jülich. That would be great, because collaboration with Germany and Belgium is still missing from the agreement."