“Inexplicable”, “an incorrect balance” and “the lack of scientific substantiation”. The plans of the municipality of Westerveld to limit floriculture caused a stir in the town hall tonight. Residents and authorities, ten in total, expressed their dissatisfaction with the proposal of the mayor and aldermen.
This also applies to lawyer Constantijn de Lange. He represents growers in legal cases regarding lily cultivation. “I’ve had all the cases about this and I’m tired of it,” he said with a sigh. He calls the path the municipality is taking problematic and a ‘legal war of attrition’. “And it will only get bigger this way.”
The council proposes establishing a spray-free zone of 50 meters for certain types of flowers at sensitive locations such as homes, schools and healthcare institutions. This is also called the ‘Westerveld scenario’.
Discussions about crop protection products have been going on in the municipality of Westerveld for years. Opponents would prefer a ban as soon as possible, while proponents point to a lack of conclusive evidence about diseases that could arise. Westerveld is one of the municipalities nationally where the discussion is most polarized.
The municipality of Westerveld now says it will ‘put its head above the lily field’ nationally by establishing the spray-free zone. But tonight it turned out that actually all speakers have serious reservations about the council’s intention.
Informed residents and Meten=Weten do not think a spray-free zone of 50 meters is enough. They want 250 meters. “That is the minimum,” argued chairman Frans Rooijers of Meten=Weten.
He also pointed out that he is not concerned about the ornamental growers, but about the resources. According to Rooijers, substances do not spread by drift, but by evaporation and via water. “By focusing on resources, you also limit disadvantage compensation (damages, ed.) to the growers,” he said.
Rooijers has provided the municipality with a list of seventy resources that he believes are not left in the fields.
Growers and farmer interest groups want the 50 meter buffer zone to be taken off the table. They see the solution in an agreement in which all parties are involved, as was evident from the contribution of several speakers tonight.
Reinder van der Wal, director at LTO Noord, called this ‘a working method in which the municipality, the sector, local residents and other stakeholders jointly make clear, enforceable and legally sustainable agreements’.
The KAVB, the interest group for the bulb sector, also advocates cooperation. Policy officer Charlotte Meiland also found it strange that discussions mainly focused on floriculture, while she believed that more resources were used for seed potatoes, for example.
After all speakers had had their say, it became clear once again that the municipality cannot do everything right for anyone. Councilor Frank Foreman (VVD) realizes that there will always be people who are dissatisfied.
Something that lawyer De Lange also notes. “With a 50-metre zone, no one gets what they want,” he said. “We must prevent the debate from taking place in court. 250,000 euros have been reserved for legal costs, but I would rather see that money go to a good conference where all experts have a chance to speak.”
Alderman Foreman no longer plans to change the plans after the comments from the speakers. “That is up to you if the topic comes up in the debate,” he told council members.
They will debate the subject next week. They will make a final decision on February 17.
