Municipalities are struggling with the use of pesticides in lily growing. Due to the lack of national policy, there is unrest among residents and farmers. A growing number of municipalities, including in Drenthe, therefore calls on The Hague to come up with clear laws and regulations.
In 2014, the Council of State ruled that a spray -free zone of 50 meters between agricultural plots and housing is ‘not unreasonable’. This applies as a rule of thumb in court cases, but is not an official rule or law. As a result, there is no guidance for municipalities, which now have to assess on a case -by -case basis what is desirable or necessary.
Pointer asked 61 municipalities about their approach. The survey shows that no municipality officially works with a standard spray -free zone of 50 meters. 14 municipalities, however, consider the use of such a zone for new construction projects, especially when there are health risks. This concerns customization, where each location must first be carefully studied and assessed for the need for a spray -free zone.
What is particularly striking is that none of the municipalities investigated has specific ornamental cultural policy. Only four municipalities have an internal investigation into possible future rules regarding the use of these resources.
That lack of policy leads to uncertainty among residents and farmers. Many residents are concerned about their health and living environment, while farmers wonder where they stand. “The current situation causes increasing tension,” says Mayor Jouke Spoelstra of the municipality of Westerveld.
Due to the lack of guidelines, pressure on the national government is growing. The municipality of Midden-Drenthe states in a response: “It is a complex interplay of regulations, case law, technical innovations and various expectations. This interplay is transcending.”
Mayor Spoelstra also agrees with that call: “Currently, municipalities are struggling with the question of how to deal with the use of pesticides in floriculture. I make a call to the government to come up with clear guidelines.”
As long as national legislation is not forthcoming, municipalities remain dependent on their own considerations. Spoelstra regrets that The Hague is not in a hurry: “It cannot be that every municipality is now developing local policy itself.”