Autonomous Archive/hand-curated/Summaries archive documents

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Updates renovation Poortgebouw 1979-1982

Documents from Nota's en rapport: wonen in het Poortgebouw 1979-1982: Link in city archive

Project group Feijenoord Noordereiland: report eroscentrum 15-03-1979

A report from the department of City development made for the aldermen in the citycouncil, concerning the future possibilities for housing after the opening of an eroscenter in the Poortgebouw and commentary about the report of the project group Feijenoord Noordereiland.

The department of city development is critical about the report and its claim of the loss of space for 1300 to 1500 houses because of the space required by the eroscenter. The authors write that one part of the area is now used by industry, so no space for housing is lost. They support the other claims of the project group however, although the conclude that there will be a loss of space for 250 houses.

This is however a exclusively quantitative analysis. Looking at the living quality of the area, the authors state that the eroscenter has a big negative effect. To make the plan for improving the neighbourhood a success, the eroscenter should be stopped.

In the attachment there are two maps showing the area, and the space that would be occupied by the eroscenter.

Project update renovation Poortgebouw 03-11-1981

An update about the talks between the municipality, the inhabitants of the Poortgebouw and the inhabitants of the neighbourhood about legalizing the living community and renovating the building. The ambition is to make a plan in three months. The first month ended with the conclusion that all parties disagree.

The municipality has three scenarios for renovation, ranging from a small renovation to a high level renovation. The municipality prefers a high level renovation and the placement of 4 living groups after that. The inhabitants from the PG disagree, as they want a lower rent and the possibility to do parts of the renovation themselves.

Aside: Important in this process is the HVAT, a subsidy for creating housing for singles and two-person households. The goal of this subsidy was to create more affordable housing for young people, but the requirements of the law resulted in small houses that were too expensive. The law for this program was still in preparation at the time of writing this document.

The rest of the update states that an organisation should take care of maintenance of the building and that conditions for joining the living community will be made in collaboration with the inhabitants of the Poortgebouw. Next to that the inhabitants want to use the Poortgebouw for cultural activities, which isn't part of the plan made by the municipality.

There is quite some disagreement between the Poortgebouw inhabitants and the municipality. The document ends with a question to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood to pick a side.

Project update 08-01-1982

An update for alderman Pim Vermeulen, in reaction to his doubt about the building plans and the guarantee for a good living quality after the renovation of the Poortgebouw. It mentions that there are no rules for housing designed for living communities, as the HVAT law that defines those rules, is still in preparation.

The author thinks that the quality of the renovation plans is OK, based on his analysis of the drawings. There will be a more elaborate report in three weeks, which will be used for talks with the Fire Department and the Department for building safety. The experiences of the Poortgebouw project can be used for future cases.

An problem is the management of the building. The author thinks that a community of 30 people is to big to create an informal group managed in a non-authoritarian way. This raises a number of questions:

  • Which organisation will manage the building?
  • Will the rent be payed by individuals, or by the community as a whole?
  • Who decides which people are allowed to live in the Poortgebouw?

The author thinks that answering these questions will take some time, but he sees the Poortgebouw as an experiment.

Letter from the PG inhabitants ??-02-1982

A letter from the Poortgebouw inhabitants in reaction to a letter from the vice-mayor. The author says that they paid all the bills so far for water and electricity, in contrast to what was said in the letters. Besides that they state that squatting

To be continued...

Notes concerning the renovationplans 01-02-1982

Notes mentioning a number of aspects:

  • Talks with mr. de Booster. There are doubts if the Poortgebouw project could apply for the HVAT subsidy
  • Talks with Union about managing the building. The representative says that the common way for living communities is to make a legal body, like an association that represents the members
  • Talk with GWR (municipal real estate management) and GEB (municipal energy company) about financing the renovation and the formal organisation of it

Renovation update Poortgebouw 11-02-1982

  • The update says that the talks between the inhabitants of the Poortgebouw, the municipality, and a project agency started in October 1981. In the beginning of January progress was reported to alderman Vermeulen, who agreed with the outcomes. There is time till mid-February to workout the plans.
  • There is a plan for renovation of the Poortgebouw, which is supported by the inhabitants and the department of housing of the municipality. Using the HVAT subsidy the builing will be renovated with
    • 28 rooms, 1 big kitchen, 3 small ones
    • Inhabitants will do the finishing of the renovation
    • There will be facilities like showers and toilets
    • Agreement about the height of the rent, rules for admitting inhabitants and the use of communal spaces.
  • The space on the ground floor (current location of the eetkafé red.) won't be part of the renovation. The inhabitants will renew this space themselves and use it for cultural activities.
  • The plan is presented to the different municipal departments and will be sent to the municipal council in February

Renovation update Poortgebouw 15-02-1982

Update by W. van Es stating the following:

  • There is an agreement with the inhabitants about the renovation and the rent.
  • Mr. Booster is against the plan, because according to him the quality of the housing after renovation is insufficient.
  • The maintenance will be shared. The facade is the responsibility of the owner of the building, the municipality, and the inhabitants are responsible for the interior.
  • It is still unclear which organisation will manage the building on behalf of the municipality.

Van Es urges the need for a meeting on a short term, because there are problems between the Poortgebouw and the police because of illegal radio broadcasts.

Renovation plan Poortgebouw 03-03-1982

This document is a full outline of the renovation of the Poortgebouw including constructional drawings, budgets, agreements on who is responsible for (parts of) the building. There are two separate copies in the city archive of this plan. One copy features extra documents, like the first rental contract.

Renovation update Poortgebouw 09-09-1982

Henk Smelt writes that the plan is sent to the ministry of Housing to get the subsidy. The GWR (municipal real estate manager) is the project owner of the renovation and the landlord in the future. The only hurdle to take is agreement from the muncipal council.


Police report illegal radio 1981-1982

Documents from Stukken betreffende de acties van krakers, waaronder illegale radio-activiteiten, in het gekraakte pand Het Poortgebouw Link in city archive

Police letter - plan to evict Poortgebouw 17/09/1981

A letter by L. Stout reporting an advice he gave to a certain mr. Rogier about the steps to take before evicting the Poortgebouw. Stout mentions that the vice-mayor Van der Ploeg doesn't really like the scenario of eviction, which is known to the chief of the Rotterdam Police.

Stout mentions the following steps

  • There need to be talks with the department of justice beforehand
  • It takes a week to prepare a plan for eviction. He prefers to make the plan when it's sure that an eviction is allowed.
  • The city council should give sufficient time in an eviction plan to execute the steps mentioned above.
  • By using the bad state of the building to evict the inhabitants of the Poortgebouw, the municipality has the moral obligation to provide a new place for these people.
  • In the meantime the police continues its normal surveillance activities around the Poortgebouw.

Report - Illegal broadcasts 14/12/1981

This report is written by the Rotterdam police and features a summary of the illegal radio broadcasts from the Poortgebouw on 14/12/1981. It mentions that the broadcast is live every monday from 17:00 till 00:00. The summary in the documents is based on a 7 hour recording on tapes. According to the Police the leader of the illegal broadcasts was J. Vooys ("known to the police").

Programs

  • Radio Rotterdien 17:00 - 18:00: Program about emancipation and women's rights
  • Radio Orange 18:00 - 19:30: A part was about Poland, and people were asked to support a protest meeting in the community centre. All left-wing political parties were invited, apart from the Labour Party. It was considered to right-wing.
  • Radio P.D.K. (Political Military Service Refusal Collective) 19:30-21:00: Program about people imprisoned for refusing military service, including an interview with one of them
  • A.K.D. (Anti Nuclear Movement Dodewaard) 21:05 - till... : Programs about people that were caught by the police during a protest in Dodewaard, and protests in Germany and Belgium. Call for protest during the courtcases of these people.
  • Radio Junkie Bond: Program about police actions to find drugs in prisons. Interview with a prisoner about the actions of the police, including breaking furniture, throwing clothes of prisoners on jam and coffee. Interview with the prison director.
  • Basta 81: Program from other squatting community. Tips and tricks for sabotage of eviction by the police. Call for protest, doing false calls to the police about riots in far a way places. Call to join the protest in Rotterdam against police violence. March from the Municipal theatre to the Poortgebouw.
  • De vrije gek (The free idiot): Program about a forum evening in a hospital, which was stopped because of a protest.

Copy of stencils from the Poortgebouw These stencils were distributed to inhabitants of Rotterdam. Announcement of the illegal radio broadcasts. Mentioning the frequency (104 mhz) and the times. Instructions to send your own programs are provided, using casette tapes. The author recommends to use both music and speech in the recordings, to make an entertaining programme. Then there is a call to donate to the radio station. There is also a document with tips to get the best reception

Police letter 14-01-1982

Letter from W. de Bruijn to the chief of the Rotterdam Police. The letter accompanies the summary of the radio broadcasts from 14-12-1981. De Bruijn mentions that the police will act against the Poortgebouw in collaboration with the department of investigation of the PTT (state telecommunications company).

Note to vice-mayor 19-01-1982

A note from the chief of police to the vice-mayor Van der Ploeg. Unreadable content, supposedly this note was included with a police report about the radio broadcasts from the Poortgebouw.

Letter from alderman to vice-mayor 25-01-1982

Letter from alderman for Stadsvernieuwing (City redevelopment) Pim Onno Vermeulen to vice-mayor Jan van der Ploeg sent on 25/01/1982. It is a reaction to Van der Ploeg's request on a action plan concerning the illegal radio broadcasts from the PG.

Vermeulen states that personally he finds illegal radio not a problem, it is an effect of the telecommunications law which is behind the current societal needs. He thinks in normal cases the municipal council should leave judicical action to the police and the PTT (the state company for mail and telecommunications). The context of the broadcasts from the PG is different however. Vermeulen refers to a case in Amsterdam (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groote_Keijser ) where the municipality made an agreement with squatters of which one was cancelling the illegal radio station, but in practice none of the conditions were met. Next to that he refers to the content of a specific program on 14-12-1981.

Personally he thinks that most radio shows from the PG are ok, it's part of freedom of speech. It is something the municipal council should understand, without supporting it. However, there is one program from squatting group Basta 81 that calls for extreme violence against the police including the best methods to do so.

Therefore Vermeulen concludes that action from the police and PTT is needed, during a broadcast. However, the vice-mayor needs to postpone the order a little because Vermeulen needs to coordinate with the department of social housing (Volkshuisvesting) who is having talks with the sqautters about renovation of the building and legalizing the community.

If those talks end positive Vermeulen advises to confiscate the broadcasting material from the PG and send a letter to the inhabitants to stop the illegal radio in the future, threatening that they will be evicted in the future. If the talks end negative, Vermeulen recommend immediate eviction of the Poortgebouw and permanent surveillance by a guard and a violent dog.

The reason for this approach is that the last illegal broadcast was in december, 'a long time ago'. Vermeulen believes that most of the squatters are good people, and that the most violent persons are kicked out of the group at the time of writing this letter.

He states that the vice-mayor should check if the illegal radio is still existing. If so, direct eviction is required. And the civil servants of social housing will be updated after that.

Letter vice-mayor to civil servant 27-01-1982

Letter from Jan van der Ploeg to H.C.G. Timmer, a civil servant at the department of General Affairs. Van der Ploeg mentions the advice from alderan Vermeulen considering the Poortgebouw. He suggests to have a talk wit a person called Vermeij. Besides that he request additional reports from the police about the illegal radio programs from the Poortgebouw, and to copy this letter and the letter of Vermeulen to sent it to mr. Vermeij.

Note to the vice-chief of police 29-01-1982

A note sent by H.C.G. Timmer to S.B. Methorst, vice-chief of the police. The note states that an (unknown) document is sent to him without an additional letter introducing the content. Next to that there is an handwritten request to inform the mayor about the contents of the illegal broadcasts from the Poortgebouw.

Police eviction plan poortgebouw ??-01-1981

The introduction of the plan mentions talks between the police, municipality and the general prosecuter about the illegal radio broadcasts. They want to confiscate the broadcasting material and arrest the people working for the radio station.

The operation will be on 01-03-1982 at 19:30, when the station is on air. The police and the PTT will be present with the following goals

  • Confiscating the machines used for the radio and make a report to prosecute the people responsible for the station.
  • Arresting a number of inhabitants that have open sentences, and fines to be payed.

"The illegal status of the community is explicitly no reason for any action in the plan".

The plan mentions the wish to require as few policemen as possible, but it expects that there will be some resistance from the PG inhabitants. A warrant will be used to enter the building, preferably without the use of violence.

The operation starts with a meet-up at the police station in Maashaven at 18:30. The group will leave at 19:20. For the radio communication a code language will be used, because inhabitants of the can tune in to the frequency used by the police. The plan is to start calm, but in case of restistance (throwing stuff, violence, refusal to collaborate) to scale up the action and use violence.

The plan mentions that traffic will be sent to other streets. Some roads and bridges will be blocked and a boat from the Harbour Police will observe the Poortgebouw from the riverside.

Report - Illegal broadcasts 01/02/1982

This report is written by the Rotterdam police and features a summary of the illegal radio broadcasts from the Poortgebouw on 01/02/1982. It is based on a 4-hour recording. It states that Radio Orange is hosting the channel and other organisations get space on the station to broadcast there messages.

Programs

  • Radio Rotterdien 17:00 - 18:00: Program about emancipation and women's rights.
  • Radio Orange 18:00 - 18:20: A 20 minute recording from the El Salvador Comittee in Rotterdam. It features their goals and a call to donate to the committee. Next to that it announced an activity to protest the interventionist politics of the USA in Central America. It ends with the announcement that the committee will return on the radio station in the future.
  • Radio P.D.K. (Political Military Service Refusal Collective): Various items, like an interview with a person working at the Dutch Secret Service (BVD, a recap of the PMC exhibition, suggesting that the army would be active in stopping social unrest in the Netherlands. Different ocassions of military action against squatters is mentioned.
  • De vrije gek (The free idiot): In this programma the presenters unveil a plan for a 'Wegloophuis', a place that offers shelter to people who ran away from pshyciatric clinics.

Police letter to chief 03-02-1982

A letter from W. de Bruijn to the chief of the Rotterdam Police. The letter was sent together with the summary from 01-02-1982. De Bruijn mentions that the broadcasts are illegal, even without looking at the contents of the programs. Next to that he writes that the department of justice contacted him about 5 inhabitants of the Poortgebouw that need to be arrested, as they still have open sentences. He advices to plan one operation to take down the radiostation and arrest the people that the department of justice is looking for.

Report - Illegal broadcasts 08/02/1982

This report is written by the Rotterdam police and features a summary of the illegal radio broadcasts from the Poortgebouw on 08/02/1982. It is based on a 5-hour recording. It mentions that multiple times there was a call to send your own radio programs to the P.O. Box of the station, to have them played on the station. Measurements of the strength of the signal performed by the police, indicated that the Poortgebouw was the source of the radio signal.

Programs

  • Radio Rotterdien: Unlike other times, there was only music this time.
  • Radio P.D.K. (Political Military Service Refusal Collective): A programme featuring an interview with Joost Duinhof, who got a 18 month prison sentence for refusing military service. After the interview the new issue of the magazine of military service refusers "Camouflage" is discussed. A squatter called Luc talks with a person from the neighbourhood community Heemraadssingel and it is suggested that this person wanted to use a group of thugs against the squatters. Another topic was infiltration in squatting communities by the secret service. A person called "N" is interviewed about burglars who got into his room and nothing was stolen, although folders with documents were opened.
  • Radio Het Oude Noorden: Programme about the activities of a group of squatters in the North of Rotterdam
  • Radio Orange: A program with pop music, after that a recording of a court case against an illegal radio station. The quality of the recording was so bad that the police couldn't understand anything.
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