55 families find themselves “without prospects” in the middle of an “inexplicable dispute” in their eyes. Waiting to be able to move into their new accommodation in Tubize (Walloon Brabant), the future residents are trying to understand what is blocking the municipality and the developer. Currently, the new street has already been designed, but the project is on hold and the land remains empty in this part of the Tordoir project.
Their new life project has been completely at a standstill for several months. Dozens of families contacted us via the orange Alert us button to let us know they were upset.
The Champ du Tordoir residence in Tubize should offer them a new life, but not everything has gone as planned so far.
A construction project that plans to create more than 300 new homes surrounded by green spaces, near the Chaussée de Mons (not far from the center of the town).
If some housing has already been built, for 55 families, the wait is “endless”. Phase 3, which should see the laying of the foundations, has been put on hold until the municipality and the developer can find common ground. Without information, the future owners are very worried, especially since other obstacles have already arisen since the start of the project.
It all started at the beginning of 2020. The first lots were sold and the purchase options/offers were signed. During the first months of 2021, the first permits were submitted to the urban planning department of the city of Tubize.
After the first delays following “administrative problems”, the families decided to form a collective of protest to be heard with the municipality and the promoter.
“In July, following the floods in Tubize, the Tordoir field, which is not classified as a flood zone, caused mudslides and the municipality asked for the re-examination of the collective equipment acting on the recovery of rainwater as well as the regularization of the relief”, says the collective.
“There were floods in Tubize while the city invested between 3 and 4 million to avoid them in the city center which was still flooded. We wondered if this project was going to have an impact. The promoter and we have carried out analyzes which have shown that no, that it was not following the development of the project”, adds Sabine Desmedt, the first alderwoman in charge of town planning.
Since the summer, the file seems to be at a standstill, which has the gift of annoying and saddening the future inhabitants.
“The streets and roads are built and even already have street signs with their names. Everything seems ready for the construction of future houses. Our families are prisoners of an unexplained and unexplainable dispute. There was no problems with phase 1 and phase 2, why phase 3 becomes so complicated?”, wonder these families.
This project would allow us to have children
Roxane and Maxime, a couple we met on the land of their future accommodation are “desperately” waiting for the situation to unblock so that they can start a family.
“Some buyers have been waiting for about a year. We fell in love with this new district but unfortunately we have to wait”, confides Roxane. “We signed on October 24, 2020 and we deposited a deposit which amounts to several tens of thousands of euros. It is a substantial sum and unfortunately, we do not have good communication between the promoter and the municipality. which are in dispute. It is challenging to think that the wait is interminable and that we still do not have a building permit on the horizon. We have absolutely no idea how long it will take”, she regrets.
For his part, Maxime would like at least “a date or prospects, to embark on life projects. For the moment, we are in a small apartment in Brussels which does not necessarily allow us to enlarge our family. This project would allow us to have children and live in better conditions.”
Roxane says she doesn’t see the end of the tunnel. “Every time there is a new problem”, she berates. “There were administrative issues, then they say there is an analysis concerning the floods, then they invent a modification of the relief. We would like to have a meeting with the various parties and get an account of what is said. We never have anything in writing that comes back to us personally. Communication is not done.”
Some future owners expected to be able to move into their new home in June 2022. They no longer believe it.
What is blocking in this folder?
The first alderman Sabine Desmedt indicates that a modification of the relief of the ground must be carried out in this project. The city of Tubize is awaiting a new application for an urbanization permit which has still not been submitted.
“What is blocking? Looking at the land, the promoter realized that it was necessary to modify the relief of the ground. Now, we want to know what procedure to use in order to be able to modify it. We are waiting for a response from the promoter so that the city can make an informed decision. We are waiting for our lawyers to find an arrangement so that we can continue with the project”, she explains.
“Once the files are returned to the City, there is the territorial development code which imposes deadlines on us. As soon as we are in possession of the files, we cannot drag out an urban planning file. is not in our interest. We met the promoter a few weeks ago and we are waiting for a contact between our lawyers to know what procedure we will use to be able to make this modification of the relief of the ground. I have not news about a possible exchange between lawyers.”
For its part, the promoter does not currently wish to give more details on this blockage in this file. In a press release, he says that currently, “Applications for building permits for the new phase of the subdivision cannot yet be submitted.”
“This is an interpretation of the current legislation, namely the CoDt, which is not conclusive in all areas. A specialist lawyer is currently working on a practical solution.”
The Territorial Development Code (CoDT) As a reminder, it is responsible for setting benchmarks in terms of land use planning policies in Wallonia. In particular, it determines the means of action available to a municipality to develop its territory as well as the procedure to be followed to manage permit applications.
For the promoter, “It is a matter to be settled with the municipality. For the speed of the procedure, the future inhabitants also have every interest in a solution being found quickly. This is only possible by preserving the serenity of the discussions. ”
In the meantime, the 55 families hope to soon be able to have new perspectives in this file.