Meet Rik van Lochem
Who are the people behind these positions? What motivates them, and what do they hope to accomplish in the coming years? Over the next few weeks, the members of the Mayor and Aldermen’s Council—and later, the city council members as well—will introduce themselves to you. They’ll share more about themselves, their roles, and what they consider important for our municipality.
This week, Alderman Rik van Lochem shares more about himself and his role on the City Council.
“My name is Rik van Lochem , and since May 1, 2025, I have served as a Alderman for the municipality of Aalten. I was born and raised in the hamlet of IJzerlo and now live with my wife and three children in the center of Aalten.”
It’s easy to be a critic from the sidelines. I don’t really like that. It’s not just about shouting from the sidelines—it’s also about daring to take responsibility yourself. Get involved. And you can do that right here in our municipality. That’s how I got into politics, too. And what could be better than turning that into a career? I enjoy working toward a better future for our residents here in our municipality. And fortunately, I don’t have to do it alone. I work alongside fellow administrators, council members, civil servants, associations, foundations, organizations, and, of course, the residents themselves. Together, we’re making the municipality of Aalten a better place.
Within the municipal council, I focus on various topics: sports, education, and youth services, as well as sustainability. In very concrete terms, this means, for example, that we are currently looking for a site where we can build a new facility for Schaersvoorde. And within the social sector: what should our social services team look like in a few years? How can we best support our residents who need a little help—even if just for a short while? And regarding sustainability (a new addition to my portfolio): what steps do we need to take to make our municipality as sustainable as possible? Think of energy conservation and the fact that we’ll all have to phase out natural gas by 2050—that requires realistic plans. Before we get there, there’s still a lot of work to be done—that much is clear. Fortunately, we’re not doing this alone; we’re working closely with the other municipalities in the Achterhoek region.
I think it’s very important that we keep the dialogue open with our residents. That we look for solutions together. It’s not about residents asking for something and the municipality just taking care of it. Rather, it’s about the municipality and residents working together to see where and how we can help and strengthen one another. As a municipality, we absolutely need our residents to make our community a better place. I see so many wonderful initiatives coming from residents. As “ Alderman ,” I’m happy to do my part to support them.
In my free time, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, and I like to go for a run.
And then my schedule is already pretty full.
I look forward to working with you to build a future-proof municipality. Do you have any ideas that could help achieve that? If so, I’d love to hear them.”
Rik van Lochem
- Email: gemeente@aalten.nl
- General phone number: 0543 49 33 33