Only a handful of people live in Doel. The village is really only popular with artists, tourists and a few old residents.
Demolition was canceled
The deflation of Doel started more than 20 years ago. The government moved as many residents as possible to other places. A new port area had to be built on the site of Doel. But that did not happen: there will now only be a new terminal next to Doel. However, the village is still there, but as a ghost village.
The Flemish government now wants to do something about this. And minister Matthias Diependaele (Housing and Immovable Heritage) is in a hurry. Before the summer, he wants to clarify how he can revive Doel again. “We have to determine what housing options there are if there is a port terminal next door that will operate 24 hours a day.”
Doel is literally under the smoke of Antwerp, on the river Scheldt. A nuclear power plant is located on the north side. The harbor is located on the south side.
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Disaster tourists
At the end of the nineties, approximately 1000 people lived in Doel. Then the demolition plans became concrete: due to a construction freeze, buyout, demolition and dilapidation, there are now only a few dozen. Doel is now often visited by people who come to see the decay and the graffiti.
“We have now received a number of disaster tourists. That also causes some inconvenience,” Jan Creve told RTL Nieuws. He is spokesperson for Doel 2020, an action group committed to preserving Doel. “I think it is not that difficult to develop the village again.”
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How Doel should then be developed, the minister will have to investigate in the coming months. First see, then believe, says Creve. The residents have a difficult relationship with the government.
In 2016, they enforced a court order that Doel should not be wiped off the map: the village was on the map as a residential area in all zoning plans.
‘David vs Goliath’
After that verdict, the conflict with the government eased. “In 2018 we came to an agreement with the government: the port expansion would be smaller and the government also promised to revive Doel.” But according to Creve nothing came of that. Hence the wait-and-see attitude now.
“We’ve been battling David against Goliath for over 20 years,” said Creve. “Our campaigns started in 1997. The action group called itself Doel 2020. That still seemed a long way off. Who would have thought that we would still take action in 2021?”
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Creve himself lives five kilometers from Doel, in a place that until a few years ago was also destined to disappear for the port. “The port plans not only have an effect on Doel, but also on the immediate surroundings. Many more residents are affected than people realize.”
‘Much unnecessary damage’
Most of the people left 20 years ago, says Creve. “For a large number of people it is a turn of the page. Most do not think about returning, only some consider that. But Doel will never again be the village it once was.”
The ironic thing is: the 2016 ruling made it clear afterwards that they should not have had to leave. “Much unnecessary damage has been done.”
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The question now is to what extent that damage can be repaired. According to Creve, the area has a lot of potential. “There is architectural heritage. There are houses whose structures are still in order, even though they have been damaged. And there is interest from people to come and live there. We feel that they should be given the chance.”
‘Noise no problem’
According to Creve, port noise does not have to be a problem. In Doel you can see the large ships passing by, but there is an enormous ‘quality of life buffer’.
“That is a 24-meter-high dyke,” explains Creve. “That makes Doel a relatively quiet place. I think that a lot of villages in Flanders are not nearly as quiet as Doel. It’s also on the river, which also gives the village extra charm.”
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How great that potential really is, should be evident from the study that the Flemish government is now commissioning. Still Creve is on his guard. “It is now up to a new minister with the intention to put an end to all this misery and to come up with a solution. But the story is not yet at its end.”
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