Friesland province is opposed to the government’s decision to allow salt mining firm Frisia Zout to extract 100,000 tonnes of salt from close to the town of Franeker .

The provincial government is concerned about the effect on ground levels in the area. In March last year MPs refused to give Frisia a licence to mine more salt because of the effect on ground and water levels and the risk of subsidence.
Council official Sjoerd Galema told news agency ANP the current plan is for exactly the same volume of salt as was rejected in 2009.
Two years ago, Frisia Zout and gas company Vermillion agreed to pay for damages caused by subsidence in north-western Friesland. The ground level in the area had dropped by some 33 cm because of salt and gas extraction.

Slippery roads
On Thursday, Akzo Nobel said it was making 15 million kilos of salt available for road de-icing.
Meanwhile, the cyclists’ lobby group Fietsenbond says it has been flooded with complaints from people about untreated cycle paths. The organisation has urged cyclists who have accidents to make claims against their local councils.