The land occupied by the former KNSF powder store in Muiden is being rapidly transformed into De Krijgsman, a neighbourhood with 1300 dwellings in a landscape of trees and water, nestled behind the dike surrounding the IJmeer.
The De Kruitwachters development is taking shape on a site within walking distance of the historic town centre of Muiden, on the Kruitpad road and the banks of the Muidertrekvaart. The design makes reference to the former gunpowder factory in Muiden. In the past, the driveway leading to the factory was flanked with factory workers’ dwellings, a number of which can still be seen on the site. The design of the De Kruitwachters development includes a number of pointers to the site’s rich history.
Legal dispute
The "De Krijgsman” development lies to the west of Muiden town centre. Part of the development is the land on which the former Royal Netherlands Explosives Factory, "KNSF", (Kruitpad 16) was situated. The site lies in an area in which many local planning interests (such as the demands of accessibility, housing, nature and water management) compete for space.
Not least with a view to giving the various planning interests as great an opportunity as possible, a plan was devised at the end of the 1990s to close the gunpowder factory on the KNSF land, and to turn the space that this made available into a new residential and working zone. In 2003, the local authority of Muiden and KNSF signed a letter of intent outlining the intention of turning the land, in consultation, into a residential and working area. To this end, the factory complex was closed in 2004.
Once the plans had been worked out an additional letter of intent was signed, in 2005, which set out agreements on levels of quality for the development. Ultimately, in early 2014, a legal dispute that had stretched for years was settled when the parties (including KNSF and the local authority of Muiden) finàlised a settlement agreement. This settlement agreement governed aspects like programmatic starting points and the landscaping of the area. These are covered in detail in a document setting out ambitions for "De Krijgsman in Muiden", dated 13 December 2013. The agreements and starting points in the settlement agreement and the document referred to above set the tone for this local development plan. When translating the ambitions stated in the document into reality, the key principles are those of sound urban planning. The document stating the ambitions for the development was adopted by the municipal executive on 6 February 2014. The settlement agreement was signed in March 2014.
