Now that many plans are being made for the surroundings of the port area and industrial estate in Moerdijk, the province wants to make good agreements about long -term compensation for local residents and companies. “If we get a part of the acid, we must also get it sweet,” said the deputy Wilma Dirken van Ruimte Friday in a debate with committee members.
The quality of life in the village of Moerdijk is under pressure now that the area is becoming an important junction in the energy transition. There will be a new 380 kV high voltage station. There are also plans for water -solid factories and companies want to make and expand more sustainable.
Furthermore, the tubes of the Delta Rijncorridor (for ammonia and hydrogen) of the port of Rotterdam also go to Limburg via Moerdijk.
Great worries
Residents in Moerdijk and the surrounding area are very concerned about the consequences for the quality of life in the village. In one of the three official scenarios that go around, there is no room for the village anymore. It is also feared that the village will be swallowed up by the expanding industry in the long term.
Raoul Nuijten from Dorpstafel Moerdijk wants attention to be paid to a third scenario. It must be searched for space in the industrial and port area. He wants companies that actually don’t belong there. Nuijten: “What should be real here and what can be somewhere else?”
Energy factory
Residents of Geertruidenberg are also on the rear legs. There, the existing 380 kV station will be expanded and a new station will be added to the power grid generated by windmills at sea on the power grid.
This energy factory comes to Martijn Kneepkens in his backyard. “The parties always prefer to talk about a project. About the transport movements that are needed. We know that there will be another project afterwards. With nuisance again.”
Not yet clarity
Farmers in the area between Moerdijk and Geertruidenberg are also worried. The ZLTO in turn fears in the area around Moerdijk and Geertruidenberg for the consequences of the construction of cables and pipes. “You have to protect good agricultural land,” warned ZLTO director Angelique Huijben.
Deputy Wilma Dirken says he understands that ‘people yearn for clarity’, but cannot give it yet. “We want to view all the plans for the recommended decades in full.” Only when more is known can be started with participation, her message was.
Moerdijk scheme
Last month, the Provincial States almost unanimously agreed that the Moerdijk scheme should return. The scheme was created in 2019 and is a guarantee scheme for homeowners in the municipality of Moerdijk.
This allows the municipality to serve as a safety net for homes that are not sold on the housing market. Residents received a sales guarantee based on 95 percent of the value of their home. At any time it became possible for residents to sell their house to the municipality, which resulted in so financial security and tranquility.