Ventilus: “Definite route in February” (Demir)

The file will be submitted to the Flemish government tomorrow. “We will indicate certain routes there and they will be examined in an environmental impact report. Only in February will we be able to determine the final route where we will affect as few people and companies as possible,” said the minister.

“Don’t give up underground track”

The Flemish government will therefore consider the Ventilus file tomorrow. The new report by the German professor Westermann has increased the consensus about the aboveground track, although protests continue to bubble up within the ruling party CD&V.

For example, Flemish MP and mayor of Ledegem Bart Dochy does not want to give up the underground track completely. “It would be to the credit of the Flemish government if it had a little patience to listen to the concerns that remain with the mayors”.

After the new report by the German expert Dirk Westermann, it is clear to government parties Open VLD and N-VA: the Ventilus project in West Flanders – the high-voltage line needed to bring the electricity from offshore wind farms to land – must be installed above ground. because this is simply the only workable solution.

The case is also clear for opposition parties Groen and Vooruit and the government must make the decision. Only opposition party Vlaams Belang is on a different line. That party continues to work for an underground solution and urges the governing party CD&V to “keep their feet up” and to continue to oppose the above-ground option. CD&V would not oppose a discussion of the file at the Council of Ministers tomorrow.

Tomorrow position mayors

Yet not everyone within CD&V seems to simply accept the conclusions drawn from the Westermann report. Bart Dochy, mayor of Ledegem in West Flanders, for example, continues to point out the local concerns about the health impact of an overhead high-voltage line. The CD&V member also reads in Westermann’s report that an underground solution could be possible as soon as the technology is available. For the time being, that technology is not there, but according to Dochy, that technology can evolve quickly.

Tonight, Dochy, together with the other involved West Flemish mayors, will talk to the German expert. Tomorrow the West Flemish mayors will take a stand.

“It would be to the credit of the Flemish government if it had a little patience to listen to the concerns that remain with the mayors,” said Dochy.

N-VA Member of Parliament Bert Maertens, mayor of the involved Izegem, believes it is important that the local concerns have been listened to, not only of the residents, but also of the entrepreneurs. He insists that there should be an accompanying policy not only for the residents, but also for the entrepreneurs.