Piet Catsburg from Zeeland is one of the citizens who won a lawsuit against the government about odor nuisance. He lives on the Graspeel between more than ten livestock farms. He has no problem with the farmers, all the more with the policy. “I can close my windows when there is a south-westerly wind, then it can’t hold out.”
Sixteen citizens, mainly from Brabant, have campaigned against the government for a long time. They feel that the state has insufficiently protected them against odor nuisance. Last Friday, the judge ruled in favor of the group of citizens. They are also entitled to compensation from the state.
“With a bag of money, the stench doesn’t go away.”
Piet Catsburg is one of those sixteen citizens. He doesn’t really think that compensation is that important. “I care about the stench, with a bag of money that smell does not disappear.” His house on the Graspeel is surrounded by intensive livestock farms full of pigs, cows, chickens and goats.
What Piet is all about is that both the province and the municipality have given companies the opportunity to continue to settle and expand in Zeeland in recent decades. According to him, the brakes should have been applied much earlier to keep the stench within limits.
“The farmers abide by the rules, but the rules aren’t right.”
He doesn’t blame the farmers either. “They have a permit and adhere to the rules. But those rules are not correct and the judge now thinks that too.” Piet has lived on the Graspeel for about 40 years and could always live with the stench that comes with an agricultural area. “Only in recent years so many animals have been added and you can smell it.”
The Livestock and Smell Act currently does not protect residents of rural areas, the judge also finds. “If a farmer wants to start or expand a new company somewhere, they look at how much stench that individual farmer causes. The total number of livestock farmers that cause stench in that area is not looked at. That is not correct.”
“It wakes me up at night.”
Especially the stench of the mega stable nearby with 17,000 pigs is very intense for Piet. “It is unbearable here in a south-westerly wind. It wakes me up at night if I don’t close the windows.” He hasn’t been doing it for years now, even sitting outside in the summer. Some people prefer not to visit Piet because of the stench, but moving is not an option for him.
The Environment Agency has now set up a mobile measuring station at Piet’s doorstep. “You can’t measure stench, but substances can and in six months you will know what exactly is in the air here.” He hopes that politicians now understand that residents of outlying areas have been given a lot of work as a result of the policy and that something really needs to change.
“Finally a judge who understands”
Piet does not have the illusion that the stench will now be solved quickly. “No, it is only established that our rights have been violated. There will be more cases about the amount of stench and how you determine it. We are raising money for those lawsuits.” Still, he is relieved with Friday’s verdict. “I thought, finally a judge who understands what we are going through in the countryside.”
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