Deputy Stephan Satijn (VVD) thinks it is perfectly possible to make a business case for Maastricht Aachen Airport (MAA) before 31 December on the basis of the strict conditions of the Limburg Parliament.
“But I cannot guarantee success. Because we are also dependent on other parties,” says Satijn.
Requirements
The Limburg Parliament voted 27 to 17 on Friday to keep MAA open. This is subject to the condition that the provincial government submit a detailed business plan before the end of the year. Part of this should be that the number of people with serious noise nuisance is further reduced in phases and that a generous environmental fund is created to limit the nuisance as much as possible through (extra) insulation or the buying out of homes.
Also read: It’s final: Maastricht Aachen Airport will remain open
Partner
Other matters that must be arranged in the business plan are a stronger focus on the use of less noisy aircraft and finding a good cooperation partner, such as Schiphol. Sustainability must also be a prominent part of this. Just like the premise that the province of Limburg is no longer the sole shareholder.
Closure as stick
As a big push, the Limburg Parliament passed a motion by the Forum for Democracy (FvD) by 29 to 16 votes that if the business case is judged to be inadequate, it will immediately be voted on to close the MAA. The CDA, PVV and Lokaal-Limburg voted against the motion.
Consequences
The PVV did not want to commit in advance to the consequences of such a scenario. PVV member of parliament Roel van Bijnen states that he would also like to know why things may not have worked out. At the same time, he stated that he had confidence in the realization of the strict conditions.
worthless work
VVD and SVL did support the FvD’s motion, even though they had formulated those conditions with CDA, PVV and Lokaal-Limburg. VVD member of parliament Teun Heldens stated that, as far as he is concerned, we should first look at solving any problems. “But for us, the limit lies in delivering worthless work. If that were the case, we would have to vote again on MAA,” Heldens said.
Pascal Thewissen of SVL, on the other hand, felt that if there really were to be a case of worthless trading, there should really not be a new vote on MAA, but on confidence in the provincial government.