Divided reactions to district plans Bruges mayor
Zuienkerke wait and see, but thinks cooperation within a district is more desirable than a merger. Alain De Vlieghe, mayor of Zuienkerke: “I think it is a better formula than merging with a municipality. The advantage of becoming a district municipality of the large city of Bruges would be that you preserve the individuality of your municipality. the staff can still remain for a large part. I think that people would accept that much better because they can still be a Zuienkerkenaar in their own municipality. That is very important. Because if you do something like this, it must also be supported by the population of your congregation.
Jos Sypré, mayor of Beernem, is on the same wavelength. “I have the feeling that in the next legislature we will be imposed a merger, now we can still do that voluntarily. As a smaller municipality it is more difficult to manage everything, because tasks are transferred to the local authorities. That is why I think the idea of Mayor De fauw is fine. It seems to me that as a municipality you still retain some autonomy. But we will have to investigate what the added value is for us and we want to involve our residents in any case.”
Jan De Keyser, mayor Oostkamp says: “For a district, a merger is first necessary. And then a large city council determines which powers remain in the districts. In Antwerp, for example, this concerns public domain and leisure activities. In my story of merging with Beernem & Zedelgem, it is about equality For me it’s a collection of villages and make sure that they remain livable.”
And Joachim Coens, mayor of Damme: “We have been a city since the 12th century and we like our autonomy and identity. The idea of district is better than fusion but we have to investigate that.”