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Historic village to return to former island status


Tags: Excerpts from the Windmill

HAARLEM — The 1930s reclamation works Wieringermeer enclosed the former island of Wieringen in a newly drained polder, which was named after the historic fishing village. This engineering work put a stop to the advancing land erosion which for hundreds of years had steadily reduced the island’s acreage. The object in the 1930s was secure dikes and new farm land to meet the needs of numerous young farmers wanting a place of their own. The object now is recreation, tourism and waterfront homes, pushing officials to inundate 800 hectares of land adjacent to Wieringen and return it to nature. Noord- Holland's promoters expect that the costly plan will carry few risks and pay for itself. Most of the site still needs to be purchased from mostly unimpressed area farmers.