D66 party leader Anry Kleine Deters in the Provincial Council is convinced. It is, however, possible for the province to limit the expansion and relocation of bulb and lily cultivation. Think, for example, of spray-free zones, where no agricultural poisons may be used, or cultivation-free zones where no bulbs or lilies are allowed to grow.
According to Kleine Deters, the province can do this through the so-called Spatial Planning policy, in which the space within Drenthe is managed. Certainly with the new Environment Act, which is on its way. This law is a combination of all kinds of separate laws in the field of, for example, environmental impact, but also noise pollution and safety. The national government wants to “simplify and merge the rules for spatial development”.
No, say the Provincial Executive, none of that is possible. And if you do try it, you will end up in a ‘very difficult and probably legal battle’ in which the key words such as property rights, zoning changes and planning damage will predominate.
Because this discussion about bulb and lily cultivation has been dragging on in Drenthe’s politics for some time, the Provincial Council has asked Bout Advocaten en Adviseurs to find out. Based on Bout’s report, D66, PvdA, SP, GroenLinks and Party for Animals say that it is possible to set limits. The Provincial Executive, led by Henk Brink, say that it is not possible.
So a stalemate. That is why Kleine Deters has prepared a motion to force the Provincial Executive.
Kleine Deters even thinks that – she admits that it is very complicated – you can say something about where to grow and where not to grow in existing situations. The magic word here is the precautionary principle. A kind of ‘when in doubt, don’t catch up’.
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