It is a huge horse row and several international riding competitions have already been held. But the covered horse box in Deurne has been illegal for years. The municipality knew that it was being built illegally, but did not intervene. Coincidence or not? The owner of the complex is also the treasurer of coalition party Doe!. “What happened here, can and may not,” says Joan van Rixtel of the Political Party Transparent Deurne.
The municipality wants to legalize the new covered horse box. The council will talk about it on Tuesday. It is against the sore leg of many people in Deurne. According to some, two sizes are measured. Many political parties have recently expressed their displeasure. Transparent Deurne pulls the hardest of leather and blames the college ‘complicity in illegal construction’.
Back to the beginning. The file around the Hippisch Centrum Deurne has been towing for ages. At the beginning of 2021, the Deurnese hospitality business and treasurer of the Coalition Party Doe!, Leny van den Eijnden, the Equestrian Center in Deurne, buys. She has big plans with the complex. At the end of that year she applies for a permit for the construction of a new large riding hall.
“In retrospect, if we knew it would yield so much hassle, we would never have bought the Equestrian Center.”
According to the owner, an indoor horse box of 3000 square meters is needed to get large international competitions to Deurne. Van den Eijnden asks permission for construction, but the hall appears to be too large and too high for the site. An adjustment of the zoning plan is required.
The entrepreneur decides to start construction at the beginning of 2022. A few months later the hall was delivered, even before all the signals are green. “We immediately indicated when purchasing that we needed a new riding hall for the exploitation. We were given the commitment from the municipality that it would be okay.” Who has made that commitment does not say Van den Eijnden.
The owner is guilty, but also says that he has taken the risk of having taken the risk ‘. “The horse row is important for the international competitions in the winter season,” she explains. “In retrospect, if we knew it would yield so much hassle, we would never have bought the Equestrian Center.”
“Administrative messing around.”
Yet the municipality does not intervene. In fact, the responsible alderman Helm Verhees even took the photo in the Net in September 2022 for the new lecture photos. “The alderman realized when the photo session took place that he was in an undisputed riding hall.” So he didn’t know it according to the spokesperson.
According to the municipality, it was only clear at the end of 2022 that the hall was built illegally. But municipal pieces show that the municipality knew or should have known before. In September a report from the archaeological investigation flopped on the mat. That investigation, which was conducted for the permit of the new riding hall, was done in July 2022. The conclusion of the investigation states that the riding hall “had already largely been built at the time of the investigation; The hull was already there. “
That report will be sent to the municipality at the end of September. The municipality was therefore aware that the riding hall was built illegally. According to a spokesperson for the alderman, the Commission did not read that report: “This report was one of the required documents for assessing the permit application. At that time, several documents were not yet delivered by the applicant and the file was therefore not yet complete.”
“In other municipalities, the entire lecture would fall on this.”
In November of that year, the college decides to participate in the plans. The council is then informed about the building plans, but without mentioning that the structure is already there. The alderman maintains that no information has been withheld.
“Administrative messing around,” says Joan van Rixtel of Transparent Deurne. “What happened here, is and is not allowed. It has not been maintained and information has been withheld. In other municipalities, the entire lecture would fall on this.”
In the meantime, the discussion within the municipality drags on and the hall is still there illegally. The municipality, and also the owner, want nothing more than to close this painful book as quickly as possible. All required pieces are inside and approved. On Tuesday, the Council may indicate whether they agree to legalize the illegal riding hall.
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