Paul Arts thought he was winning the main prize: a beautiful house in the outskirts between Boxmeer and Sambeek. Nice living among the greenery and yet two village centers within cycling distance. Great to stay, he thought. But there is a dirt in the air. Literally, because in Paul’s environment it smells like pig manure, caused by the pig farmer where he lives right next to.
And that nuisance will not decrease in the future. De Boer has ambitious plans, he wants to expand a lot. A thousand extra pigs are added to the Heihekenseweg, when it is up to the farmer. Paul should take the increasing nuisance for granted if the application is approved.
“Too bad for Paul, then he shouldn’t go to live next to a pig farmer,” you would initially think. But when Paul bought the house, now 46 years ago, the stable was many times smaller.
According to him, it was estimated to be ‘about eighty sows and some piglets’. In the meantime there would be ‘more than a thousand meat pigs’ next to Paul in the stable. There is also a larger stable on the Zandsteeg, ‘around the corner’ near Paul. This is much bigger. There would be around 7500 pigs in this.
“I really saw it growing up,” Paul says almost melancholy. Even now, even now, even before the expansion plans, the smell is often too much. “On some days, if the wind looks good, it is quite neutral. But on a bad day my house is completely covered by a curtain of manure roller. ”
Sleeping with the window open is not in it for Paul: “It just wakes you up, the sour scent is that strong. Then you are dubbing, often with a headache or a nauseous feeling. ” Letting the laundry outside dry in the sun is also not an option, because ‘then the whole laundry will smell like the manure’.
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Environmental Arts Rob van Aalsburg conducted extensive research into odor nuisance for the GGD. According to him, living in the stink is not only unhealthy, it also brings shame.
Paul recognizes this feeling. “You try to disguise it a bit. When I visit the floor, I must already have my story ready, “he says. “And always rising that story, everything comes up again. You prefer to be able to talk about pleasant things. ”
“Economic importance of farmers has been given priority all those years.”
The plans of the farmer are not yet final. The application from the pig farmer was previously destroyed by the municipality. But according to Paul, De Boer has lodged an objection.
“And as soon as he meets the best available techniques to limit the nuisance, nothing stands in the way of him anymore.” Then the farmer meets the legal standards, but according to him, these have not been strict enough for years.
Not only is Paul convinced, the court in The Hague is too. This ruled in 2022 that current odor regulations do not sufficiently protect local residents in the Netherlands. According to the court’s decision, Paul lives in a ‘unacceptable’ situation.
In December, Land van Cuijk presented the new odor policy, and it turns out: the standard in Land van Cuijk will be stricter in the future. However, this only applies to new applications and does not apply to existing situations.
Paul doubts whether something will change: “The economic importance of the farmer has been given priority all those years.” And whether the current cabinet with the BBB and PVV will restrict farmers, Paul has a hard head in it.
Bright spot on the horizon
Good news for Paul: It has since become known that the pig farmer is participating in a termination scheme around him around the corner on the Zandsteeg. According to Paul, the pigs are ‘cleared within a few months’. That already saves a lot in the gesture in the area. But the expansion of pig farming to which he lives next to is not yet off the table.