Last week, the Council of State destroyed Bocholt’s spatial implementation plan (RUP) for sand extraction in Kaulille. In time, 100 hectares of forest had to disappear for this sand extraction. According to the Council of State, the plan of the municipality of Bocholt is illegal because environmental criteria have not been taken into account enough. For example, the habitat of the black woodpecker risked being destroyed.
According to Flemish Minister of the Environment Zuhal Demir, “Bocholt’s municipal council stamped the ball back to the Flemish level”. The N-VA minister has now announced that she does not intend to draw up a new spatial implementation plan. She also does not intend to delegate the authority to the municipality, as her predecessor Joke Schauvliege did in 2019.
“It is clear to me that the natural value of this area is enormous and that my predecessor’s decision to delegate to the municipal council was not the most well-considered,” says Demir. “But above all, this is one of the large connected green lungs in our beautiful province. Support for cutting down those forests has also eroded. Making the decision is therefore self-evident for me”, says Demir. According to her, there are sufficient reserves (40 million m³) even without this sand extraction area.