Bulskampveld testing ground for preserving historic estates

But they will now first find out in Beernem how they can preserve these historic estates for the future. The minister signed the agreement in the protected Three Kings Castle.

There are 33 historic estates on 10,000 hectares in Bulskampveld. Flanders and the province of West Flanders want to preserve it for posterity. And today the first step is being taken to draw up a heritage master plan. Bulskampveld will become the testing ground for finding solutions for the management and preservation of all historic estates in Flanders.

Flemish Minister for Immovable Heritage Matthias Diependaele: “Each of these estates has a very special story to tell. It shows the history of the region, what happened in the past, who lived here, what that means for the history in in general. And we try to pass that story on to the next generations.”

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Maintenance costs a lot

A historic estate requires a lot of maintenance and restoration. And that is often not obvious, because it costs a lot of money.

“We now have to get to work on that, looking for new revenue models and methods to further valorize things,” says Jurgen Vanlerberghe, regional landscape representative. “But where we will end up is also characteristic of this concept. It is a testing ground, just because of the experiment.”

All players involved in nature, agriculture and habitation are thus brought together to develop a future vision for the management of the estates.

“In a way that the owners are fully involved, but that we can unlock the important heritage value to the general public. And that is the first participatory project to be set up in Flanders around historic estates.