Can the municipality enforce a larger supermarket at Utrecht Science Park?

In 2022, the Utrecht branch of the Workers' Party (PvdA) took the initiative to get a big supermarket at Utrecht Science Park (USP) into its own hands. At the time, more than 1,000 people living at Science Park signed a petition asking for this. A vast majority of the council wanted to make a strong case for an additional supermarket, but no statement was made in the end because the university would conduct a market survey first.

Said survey was published recently and it led the university to conclude there is no room for a supermarket on campus. PvdA council member Titus Stam did not appreciate it. “When we raised this topic in 2022, we had been approached by several companies that were very interested in operating a supermarket there. So, supermarkets certainly want to do it. This is an area that gets thousands of visitors and is home to 4,000 students. That is a considerable target group.”

The major problem, Stam notes, is that the university owns the area. As a result, the municipality has limited control over what happens in that district. “My impression is that the university simply does not want that supermarket and is dragging its feet. UU is now talking about expanding the supermarket after 2032, once the Langeveld building is renovated. Spar has indicated that there may not be a supermarket in the area between 2028 and 2032. That is just not possible,” says Stam. “I believe it is the university's duty to provide facilities to the residents. A supermarket and good catering facilities are part of that.” The municipal council previously discussed how lively the neighbourhood is, coming to similar conclusions.

PvdA has now put the supermarket on the agenda for the Spatial Planning & Land Affairs committee meeting. “We want to know what kind of means we have to enforce this.” Stam has a suggestion: “The only thing the university depends on the municipality for is when they want to change something in the environmental vision. One of the toughest means we have is to reject every application from the university until an application for a supermarket is received. I wonder whether the other parties are willing to go that far.”

Archimedeslaan was once discussed as a possible address for a supermarket. According to Stam, that plan is on hold because of the possibility of the A27 motorway being widened. No one is allowed to build anything in that part of the city until that discussion is completed, he says.