Opposition Ruiselede goes to Council of State against merger with Wingene
They want the decision to merge with Wingene overturned. “The city council misled the inhabitants and the outcome of the referendum was not respected,” it sounds.
The initiators are asking for the suspension and annulment of the merger plans. “Both applicants believe that a decision to merge cannot be taken without prior consultation with the residents,” it says in a press release. “Moreover, the municipal council also misled its inhabitants. Only after the merger decision did Ruiselede order all sorts of expensive studies to show that the municipality of Wingene would be the best merger choice for Ruiselede. Deciding on a too small merger, at a time when the Flemish government is openly discussing the future merger rules, is in any case a bad choice for all residents and very undemocratic.” The initiators also believe that the Ruiselede board cannot simply ignore the result of the referendum. “The municipality has to do its homework all over again,” they say.
In April, the municipal authorities of Ruiselede and Wingene announced that they would form a unified municipality from 2025. It was the first time that a voluntary merger took place in the province of West Flanders. A referendum followed in November in which more than 91 percent voted against the merger plans. However, the result was not binding.
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Mayor: “No mistakes made in terms of content”
Mayor Greet De Roo van Ruiselede and her party RKD are not happy that the opposition has approached the Council of State. According to De Roo, no substantive errors were made on the way to the decision to merge with Wingene, but the Council of State is also putting the finishing touches in terms of form and that could give the merger story a different turn.
In the municipal elections in October next year, Ruiselede and Wingene want unified lists, but if the Council of State puts a stop to the merger, there may still be separate elections in Ruiselede. In the meantime, the municipality has already submitted an administrative file to the Agency, but it has not yet officially heard anything about the complaint with the Council of State.