Niels Destadsbader earlier at the sites in Berlaar. — © Viva Padel
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The municipality of Berlaar has granted permission via a mayor’s decision to fell the sick poplars to the football field of FC De Weerdt. A few days ago there was a commotion after it turned out that the trees had been felled without a felling permit, in preparation for the padel project that Niels Destadsbader wants to develop there. According to the singer’s entourage, a misunderstanding was the cause and the felled trees are compensated twice and thick.
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Bert Provoost
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Singer, actor and presenter Niels Destadsbader wants to open his first padel complex in Berlaar under the name Viva Padel. To do this, he transforms one of the football fields into padel courts and builds a brand new infrastructure for the padel club, which can also be used by the café football team that is active there. During the preparatory work, more than two hundred trees were felled, which caused commotion. The felling had happened without a valid felling permit and that was charged by the local branch of opposition party Groen, which demanded that the rules be followed. In the meantime, the administrative part has been put in order, says mayor Walter Horemans (CD&V).
–“During an inspection it was previously determined that almost all the trees were rotten. That is due to the wrong way of pruning,” it sounds. — © Green Berlaar
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“There was no doubt that the trees had to disappear. During an inspection, it was previously determined that almost all the trees were rotten. This is due to improper pruning, which has allowed water to penetrate the trees and cause them to rot. They were to put it simply food rot, which was also previously established by the police. Some poplars have also burned down on the southwestern side of the site. The initial plans to prune the trees alone were therefore not feasible. Viva Padel should have waited with felling until the permit was obtained. In the meantime, that permit has been issued,” says the mayor.
In concrete terms, a mayor’s decree was signed on Monday allowing the felling of the 243 Italian poplars. The emergency felling is approved ‘in view of the imminent danger to the users of the sports fields due to the great risk of branch breakage’. “After this regularization, the felled trees will be included in the environmental permit application that will follow. That was necessary anyway, given that, among other things, a tent construction is being built,” says the mayor.
Misunderstanding
In the entourage of Niels Destadsbader it sounds that it was never the intention to cut down without a permit. “It was a misunderstanding, a mistake in good faith,” said co-pilot William Khalil. “As the owner of the land, the municipality itself had plans in 2020 to cut down those diseased trees. When it turned out that we would take the land on a long lease, that became our responsibility. We therefore assumed that the felling permit would still be in order, but that turned out not to be the case. I would like to emphasize that we are preparing this entire project in the best relationship with the municipality, but here there was a bit of uncertainty.”
–© Viva Padel
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The fierce reactions to the felling of trees have hit hard, it sounds like. “We are shocked, as if we intend to cut down as many trees as possible. On the contrary, Niels wants a project here with lots of greenery all around, which matches the atmosphere and cosiness that Viva Padel wants to radiate. We will therefore compensate the felled trees twice and thickly by planting even more than has now been felled. That was always our intention. The free space on the site is limited and we can only compensate for part of the trees, but in consultation with the municipality we are also planting new trees elsewhere in the streetscape of Berlaar. In this way we help the municipality to achieve the objectives for planting additional trees.”
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