Plebiscite in Ruiselede on merger with Wingene
The plebiscite will be held on Sunday 27 November. The question that will be asked is: ‘Should Ruiselede merge with Wingene on January 1, 2025?’
Merger plans with Wingene
On April 25, 2022, the mayors of Wingene and Ruiselede announced that both municipalities will merge on January 1, 2025.
Mayor Greet De Roo (Ruiselede): “In recent years, the Flemish government has transferred more and more powers to local authorities, which is not at all obvious for a small municipality such as Ruiselede. In addition, we had to deal with a lot of new evolutions in a short time, such as increasing digitization, and we were not spared a number of crisis situations such as corona and the energy crisis, in which governments and citizens looked at the municipal council with great expectations.”
“Although it was previously indicated that more intermunicipal cooperation could offer a solution, this year we came to the conclusion that we were running into our limits and had to consider the possibility of scaling up,” said Mayor De Roo.
Why Wingene?
You cannot merge with just any municipality, says the municipality of Ruiselede.
“There is certainly the realization that other mergers are possible. For example with Aalter, Tielt or Beernem and these slopes were also considered. The council therefore does not choose against Aalter, Tielt or Beernem, but consciously for Wingene. The council believes in a far-reaching collaboration with Wingene because this municipality is already a known and trusted partner with whom we can work well together.”
Ruiselede and Wingene already share many partnerships and both municipalities are active in the same police zone, for example. It is certainly not denied that the national character of both municipalities plays a major role in the choice of partner, Ruiselede says in a press release.
“On the contrary, we certainly choose Wingene because of the similar characteristics, vision and strengths: lots of open space and nature, pleasant communities to live and relax in, a lively club life, … . Something of which we are less convinced in a merger with a more urbanized municipality.”
The choice of both boards for each other is based on various opportunities and advantages that have been detected in recent years. This was also confirmed in the external study that both municipalities had carried out, says Ruiselede.
Communication
The results of this administrative strength analysis can be read via: www.fusionwineruiselede.be In order to also develop the merger process towards citizens, both boards launched a merger website after 25 April and all residents received a merger newspaper in their letterbox.