Alkmaar city council votes to ban New Year's fireworks

A majority in the Alkmaar municipal council has voted to ban fireworks in the municipality. It is now up to the mayor and aldermen to figure out how to implement the ban and propose alternatives for New Year’s celebrations, NH Nieuws reports.

The city council followed the outcome of an advisory referendum on the fireworks ban. With the European Parliament elections early in June, Alkmaar residents could also vote in the referendum on whether or not they want to continue lighting fireworks over New Year’s. 65 percent of the votes were in favor of a ban.

Alkmaar mayor Anja Schouten promised the city council that she would thoroughly investigate how to implement and enforce the ban. She warned that the municipality would likely have to learn from experience. “This won’t just go smoothly in one year,” the mayor said.

The city council also asked the mayor and aldermen to propose alternatives for New Year’s celebrations. Schouten said they would submit plans to the municipal council in September.

Lighting fireworks on New Year’s is another Dutch tradition that has become increasingly controversial in recent years. Every year, eye specialists and doctors sound the alarm about the large number of injuries caused by fireworks, and insurers report millions of euros in damages. The noise and lights are also known to traumatize animals and upset the elderly and infirm.

Alkmaar is not the first city in Noord-Holland to ban fireworks. The municipality follows the example of Amsterdam, Haarlem, Bloemendaal, and Heemstede. In the run-up to last New Year’s, over 50 Dutch municipalities said they were in favor of a ban.