News item | 12-12-2022 | 14:58
At the end of next year, the national government and the provinces will make administrative agreements about the spatial integration of challenges in the areas of housing, accessibility, energy, economy, agriculture and nature. The agreements form the basis for a new memorandum on space in 2024. That is what Minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Housing and Spatial Planning) writes in the spatial ‘starter package’ that was sent to the twelve provinces today.
In the starter package, the government presents the provinces with the tasks from national programs in the field of our physical living environment. Together with municipalities and water boards, the twelve provinces are being asked to spatially translate, integrate and combine the taskings for the period up to 2030 – with a view to 2050 – with the provincial taskings. An appendix to the starter package describes the specific opportunities and bottlenecks for each province.
Start puzzle phase
The dispatch of the starter kit marks the beginning of a spatial puzzle phase and intensive cooperation between governments. The tasks are great, but space is scarce. We therefore have to make choices, combine functions, cluster smartly and use the space creatively. Water and soil are ‘steering’ in the choices to be made. Developments such as population growth, climate change, salinisation, desiccation and flooding require choices and adjustments. For example, when designating building locations or protecting suitable agricultural land.
New way of working
The National Environmental Vision (NOVI) adopted two years ago therefore sets preconditions for all considerations in the puzzle phase. In addition to focusing on area characteristics such as the state of water and soil and preventing problems from being passed on to other areas or to subsequent generations, multiple use of space is preferred. This prevents unnecessary use of scarce land.
Minister De Jonge: “We will regain control of spatial planning to ensure a fair outcome of all spatial distribution issues that we will encounter. We are on the eve of a new way of working in which we will be making crucial choices about the organization of the Netherlands. Everyone involved has a responsibility to work well together because the choices we make now determine which country we pass on to future generations.”
Innovative solutions
It is now up to the provinces to work with municipalities and water boards to spatially translate, integrate and combine the taskings for the period up to 2030 with the provincial taskings. The government supports the elaboration with spatial data and the deployment of design teams that devise innovative solutions. For example, concepts about combating ‘cluttering’ by large-scale business establishments. A separate account organization has also been set up at the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations for the provinces.
In the run-up to the spatial proposal, there are three benchmark moments at which the national government and the provinces take stock and address opportunities and bottlenecks. With each step, the elaboration will become more and more concrete.
New note space
The government is asking the provinces to come up with spatial proposals in October 2023 that provide insight into what is spatially possible and achievable. The proposal is the prelude to twelve spatial arrangements in which the national and provincial authorities make reciprocal agreements about the implementation of the taskings. The agreements form the basis for a new space policy in 2024.