Uitgeest

Uitgeest is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.

Population centres
The municipality of Uitgeest consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Assum, Busch en Dam, Groot Dorregeest, Uitgeest.

Local government
The municipal council of Uitgeest consists of 15 seats, which are divided as follows:


 * Progressief Uitgeest - 4 seats
 * CDA - 2 seats
 * UVP - 2 seats
 * PvdA - 2 seats
 * VVD - 2 seats
 * D66 - 3 seat

Tourist information
No less than five windmills can be seen in the polder landscape surrounding the village. Uitgeest was the birthplace (in 1550) of Cornelis Corneliszoon, inventor of the wind-powered sawmill. An industrial heritage park, centered around sawmill De Hoop, is under construction.

The village has a Reformed church dating back to the early 14th Century and lakeside marina. The outdoor kart-racing track of 670m had to make room for development of houses, so one tourist attraction has been lost. Fort aan den Ham (between Uitgeest and Krommenie) was one of the 42 forts of the Stelling van Amsterdam, a 19th Century ring of fortifications around Amsterdam which has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fort is now a museum open to the public on Sundays.

Transportation

 * Railway station: Uitgeest

Uitgeest is served by 4 trains per hour (Monday - Saturday), journey time to Amsterdam is around 20 minutes. It is recommended not to travel on the Stoptrein via Beverwijk and Haarlem as this journey is slower, and the journey via Zaandam passes through beautiful countryside.


 * Highway

Uitgeest is very close to the Highway's N8/A8 and A9. This will take you to Amsterdam in around 15 minutes. Recently (December 2010) the A9 highway has been improved by adding two lanes ('spitsstroken'), improving the traffic to and from the Amsterdam region.

Notable residents

 * Peter Smit (1952-) -children's writer