Whereas:

• The City Beach at its current location is disappearing in the draft area vision of the RUG, UMCG, and municipality for the Healthy Ageing Campus;

• In the plans, a City Square is proposed as an alternative to the City Beach.

Considering that:

• The City Beach has proven its value for Groningen as a popular spot in the summer;

• Accessible cooling (swimming) spots are important for the health and well-being of our residents;

• There is a shortage of nice cooling spots to gather in Groningen, causing the City Beach and Noorderplantsoen to become overcrowded in the summer;

• The City Square offers space for meeting, but with its current design, it is not a good alternative for the bustle/unorganized fun on sand or a grass field like the City Beach or the Noorderplantsoen;

• Preserving space for bustle at the current location of the City Beach does not have to come at the expense of plans for, for example, the City Square or housing construction.

Requests the council:

• To ensure that there is enough space in and around areas E, F, and G in the draft area vision (location of the current City Beach to the future City Square) for:

• Bustle/unorganized fun, for example on sand or a grass field

• Hospitality, with space for extended opening hours

• Sufficient and qualitatively good swimming water

• Accessible swimming water with enough places to enter the water

• Organization of (small-scale) events

• Sufficient facilities (public toilets, sunscreen poles, etc.)

• To explore whether the opposite side of the current City Beach can also be (partly) made available for recreation, taking into account the ecological values of this area.

• To position the housing and other functions drawn on location ‘E’ in the draft area vision so that bustle near this location does not lead to excessive experienced nuisance for new residents.

• To investigate where else public swimming places and City Beaches can be realized in our municipality and return to the council about this in Q2 2026, looking specifically at the locations below:

• At the Suikerunie site

• At the (still to be developed) Havenpark

• At the end of the extended Winschoterdiep

• At the end of Paradijsvogelstraat

And proceeds to the order of the day.

Olivier van Schagen (Student & City)

Rico Tjepkema (PvdA)

Elte Hillekens (GL)

Rik Heiner (VVD)

Tom Rustebiel (D66)