The Oosterhof Estate

The relative peace of the eastern side of Rijssen will change with the development of a new residential area in the Opbroek. This will surround the green lobe on this side of the city, making its preservation even more important than it already was. Moreover, new measures are planned for the Oosterhof estate and the Volkspark in connection with the municipal sewerage plan. Those measures comprise an improvement of the quality of the water, improved rainfall drainage, and raising the level of the water in the lake of the Volkspark and the canal on the Oosterhof estate.

The Rijssen-Holten local authority has invited Strootman Landschapsarchitecten to draw up a plan in which the developments are taken into account in a design to safeguard the quality and beauty of this unique area. The master plan aims to protect and further develop the already existing qualities by providing guidelines for the spatial developments and recreational use. The master plan envisages the future developments of the area with six ambitions:

1. Make four recognisable zones and reinforce them: the garden zone of the manor house; the park zone of the Volkspark, the Eschhorst park and the surroundings of the nursing home; the estate zone of the woods and meadows around the manor house; and the landscape zone of the Pelmolen mill and the Regge river.

2. Make a simple and recognisable main structure of avenues, woods and meadows in the Oosterhof, with attractive views.

3. Optimise the Volkspark by forming a coherent whole with the Eschhorst park and the surroundings of the nursing home and restoring its parklike quality.

4. Develop the Pelmolen mill and surroundings further as a recreational hub with good connections between city and countryside.

5. Optimise the recreational network by filling in the missing links, creating a low-traffic park and designing a strategic parking policy.

6. Improve the hydrological structure with good drainage and more storage capacity.

The design plan elaborates the ambitions of the master plan. It contains specific proposals for the connection between the Volkspark and the Oosterhof, for the new car park and the grounds of one of the farms, for the estate and avenues, and a proposed design for the manor house itself.