Binnert Glastra
Leiden
Leiden entrepreneurs no longer have to pay local taxes for their awnings. After all, they provide shade and are therefore useful in combating heat stress. That is what the mayor and aldermen have decided.
The precario that entrepreneurs pay for their canopies above municipal land yield approximately 10,000 euros annually. Money that climate alderman Ashley North likes to shoot if it contributes to cooling the city. “In our petrified city there is a lot of heat stress, the temperature quickly rises and awnings provide shade.”
He is not afraid that entrepreneurs will come up with all kinds of creative ways to cover up their stores. If it contributes to a reduction of heat stress, he is probably only happy with it. “And it doesn’t mean that everyone can hang up anything now. There are, of course, other criteria as well. But if you do that, great.”