According to the provisional result of the council election on Wednesday 18 March, the local party Gemeentebelangen remains the largest party in Aa en Hunze, although it drops from nine to eight seats. The liberal VVD grows from three to five seats.

The 21 seats are provisionally divided as follows, with the number from 2022 in brackets:

GroenLinks and PvdA, which in 2022 still stood as two parties and won three seats each, ran on a single joint list this time. D66 and the CDA stay the same size. Turnout rose from 57.5 per cent in 2022 to 65.1 per cent.

The principal and central electoral committee will declare the final result on Thursday 26 March at 10am, in a public online session at the town hall in Gieten. On Wednesday 1 April the elected councillors will be sworn in there at a public council meeting.

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Magnitude 3.0 quake near Geelbroek felt in Rolde and Assen

By Sjoerd Buurman March 14, 2026 1 min read

The epicentre near Geelbroek and Eleveld, south-west of Rolde Photo: Rolde.nl - 2026

An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.0 occurred near Geelbroek, south-west of Rolde, at 2.14am in the night from Friday to Saturday. The tremor was clearly felt in Assen, Rolde and the surrounding villages.

According to the KNMI, the Dutch meteorological institute, the epicentre was near the Eleveld gas field, at a depth of about 3 kilometres. A weaker aftershock with a magnitude of 1.3 followed at 5.12am. Residents of Assen and the surrounding area reported rattling windows and clanking radiators.

Earthquakes have been recorded in this region more often in recent years, including near Ekehaar, Hooghalen, Assen, Eleveld and Geelbroek. In 2023 a series of quakes was measured at the Eleveld gas field, but they were clearly weaker than this one.

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Commissie Mijnbouwschade wants earthquake damage in Ekehaar compensated in full after all

January 22, 2026 · 3 min read

The earthquakes of October 2023 caused or worsened damage at 29 addresses in Ekehaar and Hooghalen, and the Commissie Mijnbouwschade, the independent body for mining damage claims, says that damage should still be compensated in full. The commission writes this in a report it published on Thursday 22 January.

Under the damage scheme that central government agreed with the mining companies, the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM), the gas company, has to pay just over €80,000 in total, between €537 and €16,178 per address. That already includes additional costs, such as for cleaning. According to the commission, this is not enough to repair the damage, and it also causes resentment, because the Instituut Mijnbouwschade Groningen (IMG), which handles claims in the Groningen gas field area, usually pays more.

The commission therefore wants to be able to compensate mining damage in full, even if part of it has another cause, and with an amount large enough to put the whole room right again, as under the IMG's scheme. That should also apply retroactively to the damage reported in Ekehaar and Hooghalen.

The sunken N33 at the Gieten interchange in 2024

General

Magnitude 3.0 quake near Geelbroek felt in Rolde and Assen

Work at the Gieten junction closes the N33 and N34 in the evenings and at night

N376 near Rolde to close for maintenance and safer bends

Roldermarkt Sunday starts with some 650 people at breakfast

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Work at the Gieten junction closes the N33 and N34 in the evenings and at night

N376 near Rolde to close for maintenance and safer bends

Roldermarkt Sunday starts with some 650 people at breakfast