Both the municipality of Kampenhout and Flemish minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA) oppose the arrival of a container village for asylum seekers. Continuing would be a crime, according to the Minister of the Environment.
Two mails for State Secretary Nicole de Moor (CD&V) today. And twice in opposition to the plans to build a temporary reception center for about 400 asylum seekers in Kampenhout. The chosen site was the former military domain in the Hellebos, where a federal police slip school was located.
A first letter is from Flemish Minister of the Environment Zuhal Demir (N-VA). The document, that The standard could look into, actually immediately draws a line through the plans. ‘With a probability bordering on certainty, this can be called a project that threatens the carrying capacity of the environment and the fragile nature,’ writes Minister Demir. In front of parliament, she even spoke of an environmental crime. ‘If one were to continue, it would be an environmental violation and that would be a crime. That is prosecutable. Then I will deploy the enforcement department Belgian.
In the letter, the minister lists several reasons. For example, the military domain will be designated as a nature or forest area in the short term via a spatial implementation plan. The surrounding forest area has also been assessed as ‘biologically very valuable’, says Demir. Things like a container village “are only possible if they do not cause a significant negative impact, do not cause unavoidable and irreparable damage, and there are no alternatives that mean less damage to nature,” warns Demir, who is far from convinced that those conditions would be met. could be. In any case, an environmental impact assessment is recommended, it sounds.
‘Not even a tiny house’
Demir also refers to her previous decision not to grant an environmental permit to the federal police services for the extension of the slip school on the same site. ‘It is almost impossible that a container village could do that. Even a tiny house would be impossible’, Demir said in the Flemish Parliament on Wednesday afternoon. There she called the project ‘by no means obvious’. You don’t have to be a ‘rocket scientist’ to see that, Demir sneered at the federal government, with whom no consultations have yet taken place – ‘that’s how it goes in this country, that’s why my letter’.
Flemish Minister of the Environment Zuhal Demir (N-VA).
Photo: Belgian
‘Impossible’
The municipality of Kampenhout is also opposed to the plans of the federal government to build a temporary asylum center in the Hellebos. Mayor Kris Leaerts (Team Mayor) announced this on Wednesday Belgian.
Now that the municipality has examined the plans in more detail, the board concludes that the location is ‘unsuitable and unfeasible’. ‘Last week we also said that we still had to clarify some technical and legal aspects. For example, it was about the water supply and urban planning regulations,’ says Mayor Leaerts. ‘We have now done that, and it shows that the Hellebos is not a suitable location.’
According to the legal advice it has obtained, it is only up to the municipality itself to issue a permit for the asylum center or not. “If that request comes from the government, we will therefore refuse it,” says the mayor.
The municipal council of Kampenhout has sent a registered letter to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) and to State Secretary De Moor, and is now waiting for an official reply.
‘Find another solution’
In the Flemish Parliament, parties that are in the federal majority have already seen the downpour, including CD&V. No application for planning permission has yet been submitted. The management must also check whether the installation of residential containers at that location is legally, technically and police-wise possible. I gather from your letters that there are doubts about this, but the municipal council of Kampenhout is also skeptical about this. Well, let’s be clear, even for the CD&V party, the licensing rules are there for everyone and they will have to be fully respected’, said Karin Brouwers.
‘I agree on behalf of the Green party,’ said Stijn Bex. ‘Permit rules must be respected. If a container village cannot be built at that location, then another solution must be found.’
