November 2025

General meeting and spring drinks

On Wednesday Evening 18 March 2026 the next general meeting is held, followed by a drink. The date is earlier in the year than you are used to - by unraveling the accounts of the sub- VvE's, the 2026 budget could not yet be discussed during the previous general meeting, and we want to discuss before mid-2026. More information about location and time will follow at a later time.

Parking garage access system

The new access system of our garage has now been in use for some time, and the number of reported problems is clearly decreasing. If a car is not allowed into the garage, it is because the system (sometimes incorrectly) thinks that the license plate in question is already/still in the garage. The two most common causes of this are

• Very low sun: then it may happen that the license plate camera does not "read" the license plate correctly when driving outside. In these cases it is wise to stop a little further from the stop line and have the car as much as possible on the side where there is the most shade.
• Driving outside, being too close behind another car, or, if the speedgate traffic light turns red and opens the speedgate, not actually driving into the garage. In the first case, driving out is not recorded, and in the second case, the not actually going in is not seen. The result in both cases is that your license plate is/remains marked as "is inside" in the system.

If you cannot enter, please contact the board - if necessary, the count for your parking space can be reset.

Renovations

Given the number of problems caused by renovations and adjustments to the various apartments and office spaces in recent years, the board will submit a renovation regulations to the members at the next AGM.

In the meantime, we would like to ask members to submit the plans to the board well before the start of the (re)construction work. The board will then study the plan with the technical advisor with whom our manager works and (if necessary) discuss the necessary adjustments to the plan with the submitter.

A seemingly simple renovation, such as changing a shower or bath, has also caused damage (and therefore costs and a lot of inconvenience) in recent years.

Deposit on relocation and construction work

It is not fair that in the event of damage or contamination of and in the general areas, all members contribute to repair the problem caused. In anticipation of the renovation regulations, a deposit of €500 will now be collected via Sturm and de Neeve prior to the move or construction work. After the work has ended, the deposit will be refunded in the event of no pollution and/or damage. Please inform Sturm and de Neeve 2 weeks before the start of the move or work.

Refresher course Twinq

We have a system called Twinq for reporting defects or complaints that belong to the joint building. You can also track your service fee payments in this system. All kinds of other documents will also be added by our manager in the near future. You can log in with a username and password, which you received from Sturm and de Neeve.

Selection of the right homeowners' association
To submit repair requests, it is important that you choose the correct sub-VvE. You can choose from 4 options: VvE IJside Hoofd (overall assocation_, VvE IJside Woningen (homes), VvE IJside Stallingen (parking and garage boxes) and VvE IJside Commercieel (for the companies).

Preventing duplicate tickets
Always check first whether someone else has already made the same ticket in “Reparatieverzoeken en opdrachten” under the heading "Gebouw beheer". If this is not the case, you can make a new notification via "Reparatie melden".

Clear tickets
Always include the house number or a location for the subject. That makes it clearer if we want to search back. Then describe the issue at hand as best as possible at “Omschrijving” and it always helps to add one or more pictures in the attachments.

In addition, the request to report one subject per repair request. The suppliers and repairers also work with this system and are therefore of no use if one ticket contains an order for, for example, a broken window and a leak.

Handling
If you have completed everything and pressed submit, the administration office will start working on your ticket. Sometimes this is done in consultation with the board, but not always. So if you do not hear about it for a while, and the complaint has not yet been resolved, please contact Sturm and de Neeve. As the board, we cannot keep an eye on all complaints.

Old tickets
If you have filed a complaint at the time of De Nieuwe Wereld that has not yet been resolved, it is good to know that old outstanding ticket have not transferred to Sturm and de Neeve. You will therefore have to resubmit this.

The above explanation is also on our website, supplemented with images of the various steps to be completed.

Bulky waste

Too often, a lot of bulky waste is deposited at the wrong time at the indicated location on the Silodam. This causes irritation and unnecessary extra work for many. Therefore, another summary of the current rules:

• The collection day for bulky waste is for the Silodam on Wednesday morning from 7 a.m. and it can be placed on Tuesday evening from 9 p.m. to Wednesday 7 a.m. at the indicated location next to the containers on the Silo Dam.
• What you can offer as bulky waste:
  • Larger household goods such as furniture, beds, carpet, shelves, white goods or carpeting.
• What you are not allowed to offer as bulky waste:
  • Household waste in bags or boxes
  • Electronics such as laptops and phones
  • Paint cans or hazardous waste
  • Coarse garden waste (such as tree stumps or large branches)

For electrical appliances and chemical waste, you must go to the environmental platform or a recycling point. So you can also dispose of your bulky waste yourself on 6 days a week - see this map for locations, including the recycling point in Nieuw-West.

What will change in the bulky waste policy in 2026?
From 2026, the municipality of Amsterdam will introduce new measures to limit the abuse of bulky waste collection. The main changes:

• Registration obligation for bulky waste: You must register your bulky waste digitally in advance, via the municipal website or the Amsterdam app.
• Fines for incorrect presentation are enforced more strictly: if you offer bulky waste without registration, you risk a fine of € 100.
• Restriction on the type of bulky waste: certain materials such as laminate and large quantities of wood waste may only be taken to a waste point.
  

Mobility scooter

According to the internal regulations, bicycles and other vehicles are not allowed to park on the square. Since we as a board do not always want to act as police officers, things have degenerated a bit.

The disadvantage of this is that the mobility scooter of one of our residents (who is allowed to stand here) is sometimes surrounded by bicycles in such a way that it is no longer easily accessible to the owner and regularly suffers damage from a fallen bicycle.

So should you still find it too much trouble to put your bike in the designated bike racks.. at least be so social not to place your bike near the mobility scooter.

Intruders

Unfortunately, there have been several nuisances from homeless people in the area surrounding our building in recent months. If this happens again, we kindly ask you to report this to our local police officer, Gerard Boots. You can reach him via 0900-8844 or via the reporting form on the police website.

To prevent intruders, request all owners not to open the front door remotely unnoticed, and if possible to prevent strangers from "slipping in".

Cleaning your ventilation system

Annual cleaning of the central ventilation unit (CVE box) is a private matter and is not difficult to do yourself. Not all apartments have the same box. On YouTube, instructional videos from various Itho (Daalderop) boxes can be found that clearly explain how to get this job done, for example this video.

Don't forget to take the power off!

It is recommended to use the extraction valves in the various rooms every 3 months to clean. The valves can be easily turned off and with a damp cloth you can easily remove dust and dirt. Then carefully place the vacuum cleaner suction nozzle as far as possible in the opening of the ventilation duct and let the vacuum cleaner do its work for a few minutes. You can then turn the clean extraction valve back on. This operation will not allow the entire ventilation duct to be cleaned. However, it does make sense. Make sure that you do not pierce the wall with your vacuum cleaner mouth and that you do not close it completely when replacing the valve cap.

 You can remove the ventilation grilles from the windows by inserting a spatula into the gap and then gently press and wipe loose. The grille can then be cleaned and dried with warm soapy water. Then you suck out the other part in the window (lattice-body) properly. After this, click the grid back into place. Twice a year should be sufficient for a well-functioning schedule.

On page 6 of the Giesbers delivery booklet you will find some tips about mechanical ventilation This booklet is also on our IJside website this appendix.

You can also get there with the instructional videos on YouTube or your neighbors don't go out, you can always contact the board.

Redevelopment of the Van Diemenstraat

From 1 March 2026 through 1 May 2026 the Van Diemenstraat will be demolished and redeveloped. The street will not be passable for all traffic and cars and cyclists are diverted. The redevelopment involves a number of changes:

• After the redesign, the street becomes a 30 km zone
• The traffic lights on the square are retained
• There will be a loading and unloading area near our square for vans delivering packages
• There will be more greenery in the street
• The bicycle racks at the gates of our garage entrance disappear, and several staples come closer to the roadway

Renovation of flue-gas channels

In the period of 23 February 2026 to 13 March 2026 the renovation of the last 8 flue gas ducts of our building will be completed for 3 weeks.

The owners involved will receive further information about this, including with regard to planning, for example.
Unfortunately, some inconvenience cannot be avoided during these 3 weeks, but then the flue gas channels on Barentszplein have been approved again for at least 15 years.

Groene Barentsz: update from Gea

Some neighbors have noticed that on the West Begroot website, you cannot vote for the Groene Barentsz proposal. Manja and I had submitted a beautiful, clear and very detailed plan, but unfortunately the municipality rejected it. We do not understand all the arguments they give. The response came in during our holiday, so we were no longer able to respond to it. This was the reaction of the municipality.

The plan ‘Het Barentszplein wordt groener!’  that you submitted to West Begroot has been checked for feasibility. Unfortunately, we have concluded that your plan via West Begroot is not feasible. In this email we explain why. 

Test 
The submitted plans have been tested on the basis of the assessment criteria by expert employees of the West district. The assessment criteria are at www.westbegroot.amsterdam.nl. The test examined, among other things, whether the plan can be implemented within one year, whether there are any legal and/or financial obstacles, whether a good location can be found and whether there are structural management costs after 2026. Unfortunately, your plan was dropped during this assessment. 
 
Your plan has not been sufficiently developed to be able to properly assess for West Budgeted. The research needed to see what is and is not possible at this location is too extensive for West Begroot's feasibility test. 
Through the Groen in de Buurt scheme it is possible to conduct more research into greening at this location. More information and registration can be obtained from: Manage greenery in the neighborhood together - Municipality of Amsterdam
If you are going to make a request for Groen in de Buurt, you can take the following points into account

• Trees cannot be used at this location, this has already been investigated. Trees entail management costs, and there is no budget for this through the Groen in de Buurt scheme.
• There are options for green areas on the left side of the square, but a check on cables and pipes has yet to take place.
• For Groen in de Buurt, just like for West Budget, there is only one-off money available, so green will have to be taken into self-management.
• Benches, trash cans and other objects cannot be placed via greenery nearby.

Manja, me and our green neighbors across the street are now considering how we move forward.