Sea farm Colruyt: Yacht harbor counts on common sense

Yesterday the court rejected the complaint of the city, the fishermen and the sailors allowing the works to continue. The sea farm will be located 3.5 km off the coast of Koksijde and about five kilometers from the port of Nieuwpoort. It will have a major impact on the marina, which with 1000 berths under management and 600 boats on dry land, is the largest in Europe, says Steven Desloovere of the Flemish Yachthaven Nieuwpoort. “What is very certain is that visitors from the Netherlands, Germany or further north will no longer stop or be able to stop in Nieuwpoort. The defense practice zone is directly adjacent to that of the sea farm. People would have to travel for hours against current to get here. We’ve lost them anyway. All our activities that we normally do off the coast of Nieuwpoort will be severely restricted.”

According to the Colruyt group, the sea farm where they want to grow mussels can be perfectly combined with fishing and water sports, but that is not correct according to Desloovere. “We cannot sail in that zone. The fishermen cannot fish there. It has become a big zone. The shackles are there now. It is a drama for Nieuwpoort. The Colruyt group has its own wind farms, so that they do that there, so they don’t disturb anyone. Only then do they combine.”

According to Desloovere, the biggest problem is that the federal government determines what may happen where in the North Sea without closely involving current users in the plans.