Municipalities can provide more swimming locations in open water: “We are going to simplify the rules” | Interior

“The limited number of open-air swimming areas has so far been very strictly regulated with special conditions that ensure that it is not easy to create an extra swimming zone,” says Gwenny De Vroe, Flemish member of parliament for Open VLD and aldermen in Kampenhout. “I have long thought it was a missed opportunity that swimming was not allowed in so many ponds, watercourses and lakes, and as a ship I came across a series of rules that prevented this.”

Devroe had therefore submitted a proposal for a decree, and was supported by the Flemish Minister of the Environment Zuhal Demir, who submitted a decision to the Flemish government.

“We are going to simplify the rules in order to achieve a recognized swimming zone,” says the minister. “We also want to make it as easy as possible for local authorities to designate additional locations themselves, as they know their municipality best. We want to make open water swimming possible in a multitude of places, without losing sight of safety and organize a highway to drownings.”

In concrete terms, the existing conditions for being recognized as a swimming zone in the environmental permit regulations (VLAREM) are relaxed and a number of conditions such as the presence of fire extinguishers, showers, sanitary facilities, shower cabins, and soil criteria (e.g. soil covered with sand and maximum slope) are abolished. A test of the water quality still needs to be done, and a risk assessment by the Agency for Care and Health. Each swimming zone must also be equipped with a life buoy.