Pollution prompts Den Bosch to ban the release of helium balloons

The Den Bosch city council decided on Tuesday night to ban the release of helium balloons in the municipality. The balloons pollute nature and are dangerous for animals, the council parties who supported the ban said, NU.nl reports.

This follows VVD party leader Klaas Dijkhoff releasing 500 balloons at a party congress in Den Bosch in November. He did so in a playful reaction to criticism on his so-called "experiment balloons". Over the past months Dijkhoff launched various plans, including for harsher punishments in problem neighborhoods, for banning demonstrations during the national Sinterklaas arrival celebrations, and for nuclear energy. So far little came of these plans.

Dijkhoff's balloon action was met with reproach and criticism from, among others, a forester, animal rights activists and animal party PvdD.