News item | 05-07-2023 | 15:20
More soldiers, more equipment, more activities. Even before the war in Ukraine, it was established that the Netherlands needed more to guarantee national and international security. More space is needed for the growth and modernization of the Dutch armed forces. That is why the National Space Program for Defense (NPRD) is being launched, State Secretary Van der Maat reports in a letter to the House of Representatives.
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It is not only about more physical space, but also more environmental space at existing Defense locations. Modern warfare requires the use of drones, new weapons, modern vehicles, information systems and new or revitalized barracks. More space is also needed due to more joint exercises with other countries and the increased need for military mobility to transport more equipment, supplies and people through the Netherlands.
Van der Maat: “Next year, input from all the ministries involved must be there for the Spatial Planning Memorandum. This completes the spatial puzzle in the Netherlands. We are talking about, for example, the housing task, the energy transition, agriculture and nature, but also about barracks, military airports and training grounds. Choices must be made and functions must be combined where possible. The National Space Program for Defense maps out the space that the armed forces need.”
Other interests
The program takes place at different levels: national, regional and local. At national level, the focus is on the usefulness and necessity of the new use of space by the Ministry of Defence. This is mapped out in a national policy vision NPRD. For that vision, the potential environmental effects are mapped out in a plan environmental impact assessment (MER).
Not only national spatial interests play a role. At the regional level, the need for space of local authorities and social parties is also mapped per area. To this end, joint regional visions will be developed, in which all spatial needs will be brought together with the aid of research by design. These area visions include the ‘barracks of the future’.
The legal planning and assurance is done at local level. It is determined per subject whether the decision-making lies with the national government, the province or the municipality. This is done with an airport decision or project decision, or an environmental plan, respectively.
Central barracks
Van der Maat is also paying extra attention to the location for the new centrally located barracks. He recently postponed the decision on its final preferred location. To do this, a “broad spatial process with sufficient space for participation and communication” must first be completed. To be able to weigh everything properly, the barracks have therefore been included in the National Space Program for Defense. This means that usefulness and necessity and possible possibilities at existing locations will be examined in the SEA. The search for potential locations will be carried out again.
Nitrogen
Defense also has to deal with the nitrogen problems. Locations are often in or close to Natura 2000 areas. Legislation on this actually makes the growth of Defense impossible in the short term. That is why the coalition agreement states that attention must be paid to the special position of the Ministry of Defence. The nitrogen problems must not restrict developments too much. The planned construction of and at Defense locations will be tested again against the nitrogen rules.
Follow-up
More information will follow in the autumn about which Defense activities will be included in the program and what the planning is. It will also become clear how all parties are involved in the programme. The Ministry of Defense then publishes the Scope and Detail Level Memorandum, which forms the starting signal for the SEA. This describes what is being investigated and to what detail and with what approach. The memorandum discusses the spatial claims, the alternatives and the method of determining effects on the environment, for example. This is also the formal start of participation.
The Spatial Planning Memorandum of the Ministry of the Interior will be completed around the summer of 2024 and the cabinet will make a decision on all the various spatial needs, including those of the Ministry of Defence.