Son en Breugel
Encyclopedia
Son en Breugel is a municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in the southern Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 just outside of Eindhoven. 15,204 lived in this municipality as of June 1, 2005. Son en Breugel is 26,67 km² (of which 0,28 km² water). Son en Breugel used to be two different towns 'Son' and 'Breugel'. The border between these towns is made by the stream the Dommel
Dommel
The Dommel is a creek in Belgium and the Netherlands, left tributary of the Dieze. It rises in north-eastern Belgium near Peer and flows into the southern part of the Netherlands. The Dommel takes in water from the Keersop, Tongelreep, Run, Gender and Kleine Dommel streams and merges at...

. Son en Breugel borders to the following municipalities: Eindhoven, Sint-Oedenrode
Sint-Oedenrode
Sint-Oedenrode is a municipality and a city in the South of the Netherlands.-History of the city of Sint-Oedenrode:First records of the settlement called Rhode date from the year 500. Sint-Oedenrode was a small settlement on an elevated place near the river Dommel...

, Nuenen, Gerwen en Nederwetten
Nuenen, Gerwen en Nederwetten
Nuenen, Gerwen en Nederwetten is a municipality consisting of the larger village of Nuenen and two adjacent smaller ones. It is located in the province of Noord-Brabant, about 10 km east of Eindhoven, the fifth largest city in the Netherlands...

, Best and Laarbeek
Laarbeek
Laarbeek is a municipality in the southern Netherlands. It was formed in 1997 by the former municipalities Beek en Donk, Aarle-Rixtel and Lieshout . Laarbeek is part of the city region 'Samenwerkingsverband Regio Eindhoven', centered around the city of Eindhoven...

.

History

The villages of Son and Breugel were founded between the 12th and 14th centuries. The villages developed quickly; some 300 households (150 each) were reported in both villages during the 15th century. However, both Son as well as Breugel were hit badly during the Eighty Years' War, and the number of households shrank to some 140 (with a total of 600 - 800 inhabitants). However, both villages managed to recover.

During the reign of Napoleon, both villages are combined into one municipality. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the population stayed relatively stable at some 1,500 persons. However, between 1910 and 1940 the population increased from 1,600 to 3,500 when people started moving to the village for economic reasons. It was the scene of heavy fighting at the end of the Second World War, particularly during Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was an unsuccessful Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany in the Second World War. It was the largest airborne operation up to that time....

. From 1960 onwards, Son en Breugel continued to grow. As of August 2002, the number of inhabitants was 15,000.

Future

The current number of households in Son en Breugel is 6,000. The village is expected to grow with some 3,000 households in the coming years, a 50% growth (Sonniuswijk or Breugel, which has to be decided after a MER investigation), as a measure to prevent the municipality from being absorded within the neighbouring municipality of Eindhoven.

Starting early 2009, a new neighbourhood will be built. This neighbourhood, called 'Sonniuspark', will contain 600 households and will be finished in 2013.

Politics

During the municipal elections on March 7 2006, five political parties gained seats in the Son & Breugel town council:
  • Dorpsbelang Son & Breugel: 5 seats (4 seats since August 2006 - see below)
  • VVD: 3 seats
  • CDA
    Christian Democratic Appeal
    The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...

    : 3 seats
  • PvdA/GroenLinks (combined list): 3 seats
  • Gemeentelijke Samenwerking Son & Breugel: 3 seats
  • Lijst Van Aken: 1 seat (In August 2006 one seat out of Dorpsbelang Son en Breugel started his own List)


In March/April 2006, a coalition was formed of VVD, CDA
Christian Democratic Appeal
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...

 and PvdA/GroenLinks. Together they have a majority of 9 seats out of 17.

External links

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