Unrest is growing in Baarle Hertog and Baarle Nassau. Fireworks dealer Loots wants to install a new fireworks storage facility on Wiekenweg, in the middle of the built-up area and right next to two gas stations and a fuel storage facility. Many residents feel very unsafe about this. “It’s asking for problems,” says local resident Natasja. “We don’t want to become a second Enschede here.” To make this clear, residents from both Baarle-Hertog in Belgium and Baarle-Nassau in the Netherlands have now collected more than 500 objections.
The permit application from fireworks dealer Loots has now been submitted for the third time, but this time the protest is stronger than ever. Four years ago, only 17 objections were received, but now an organized campaign has emerged. Residents literally went door to door in both municipalities to have objection letters signed.
In Belgium, each individual objection counts separately, so lists with hundreds of signatures would not be taken into account. “So yes,” says initiator and resident Natasja van Steenbrugge, “then you print out 500 and off you go. Very simple.”
“If it explodes, there will be nothing left to save.”
According to the neighborhood, the location of the planned fireworks storage is downright dangerous. The Wiekenweg is a residential area, with gas stations and gas storage a few meters away. “We are not talking about some fireworks for New Year’s Eve,” says Van Steenbrugge. “These are large quantities of explosive material. If something goes wrong, this part of Baarle will literally be on fire.”
There is a strong fear of a disaster scenario. Many residents refer to the fireworks disaster in Enschede in 2000, in which 23 people died and hundreds of homes were destroyed. “I can’t get that image out of my head,” Natasja continues. “And I’m not the only one. When you hear the stories in the street, you know: this fear is real.”
Fire brigades active in Baarle often apply a ‘do not extinguish but evacuate’ policy in situations with large fireworks stocks. “That actually means that when things explode, it’s too late,” says Natasja. “Then there is nothing left to save.”
It is striking that the protest is widely supported not only in Baarle-Hertog (Belgium), but also in Baarle-Nassau (the Netherlands). The village centers merge into each other and residents share the same infrastructure and the same concerns.
This is not just about safety. Years of nuisance from fireworks sales, vans full of fireworks waiting in residential streets and fireworks explosions since August have been going on for much longer. “People are just exhausted,” says Natasja. “Patience has run out, the stretch has run out.”
“There are limits. You don’t put explosive storage between residential buildings.”
The more than 500 objections will be handed over to Mayor Philip Loots (no relation to the fireworks dealer, ed.) of Baarle-Hertog on Friday at 12 noon. In addition, they are still trying to get hold of the mayor of Baarle Nassau. Residents hope that their joint signal will make a difference.
“It’s not about taking away someone’s job,” says Natasja. “But there are limits. You don’t put a storage facility for explosives in the middle of residential homes. We want to be heard, not commemorated.”
Fireworks dealer Loots responded as follows on Thursday evening: “It is not the first time that a public investigation of a permit application we have made has been hijacked by a recruitment campaign with incorrect information to obtain objections. Experience has now taught us that if this does not happen, very few objections are received. We wish to continue the procedure in complete serenity, whereby the objections will be treated on the required importance and in detail.”