Renewal of Zaventem Airport Environmental Permit: Walloon Brabant Mayors Voice Concerns

2023-12-19 14:31:04

Update Several Walloon Brabant MR mayors summoned the press on Tuesday to denounce the attitude of the Walloon Region in the context of the request for renewal of the environmental permit for Zaventem airport, currently organized in the Flemish Region.

In their sights: the Walloon Minister of the Environment, Céline Tellier (Ecolo), whose services relayed to the Walloon municipalities concerned the organization of this survey by asking them to also implement it on their territory.

This investigation began on December 10 and the Region notified the municipalities by a letter arriving on December 12 in Lasne, and on December 13 in Waterloo, although the Walloon environmental code indicates that the notice of investigation must be posted at the latest 5 days before the start of a public inquiry. The same letter asks municipal colleges to send their opinion “at the earliest after the end of the investigation, knowing that the Walloon government must send its opinion no later than January 26”.

No French translation yet

For MR mayors, this will not give municipalities time to read, analyze and synthesize the reactions of citizens, even though the subject of aircraft overflight is very sensitive and these reactions will be numerous.

In reality, the file which must be submitted to the citizen has not yet been translated into French. “An unofficial French version of the most important documents will be sent to you as soon as possible. However, given the large number of documents to be translated and the short time between the documents being made available and the start of the public inquiry, this translation was carried out by an automatic translation tool and should not be reread”, indicates the Region to the municipalities, specifying that it cannot be held responsible for errors or approximations in translation.

Reaction from Céline Tellier

The Walloon Minister of the Environment was surprised by the exit of the seven MR mayors concerning the renewal of the Brussels Airport permit. For almost a year, she has done everything possible to ensure that the municipalities of Walloon Brabant can be consulted, but has been held back by the deadlines imposed by Flanders, she reacted in a press release. According to her, discussions took place from February 2023 between her office and the SPW ARNE on the file, in particular on the possibility that Wallonia would be consulted. A month later, a letter was sent to his Flemish counterpart Zuhal Demir to request that the Walloon Region “be included in the environmental impact study, that it be notified of the request by Flanders and that it can make comments on the permit renewal application”.

These requests were accepted by Flanders in April 2023. In June, the DPA (Department of Permits and Authorizations of the SPW ARNE), after consultation with the cabinet, asked Flanders to grant a period of 120 days to that the Walloon Region can consult the municipalities, the opinion bodies, then can carry out an analysis of these opinions by the DPA so that Minister Tellier has the possibility of presenting a position to the Walloon government. The day after the DPA’s request, the Flemish administration indicated that this period of 120 days could not be accepted, the period granted being set at 50 days.

In July 2023, a letter from the DPA was sent to the 19 municipalities selected by the Technical Officer to set up public surveys in their territories. “The Walloon consultation will therefore take place in two phases, which will advance in parallel: consultation of Walloon municipalities by the DPA and consultation of several opinion bodies and delivery of an opinion by the SPW ARNE”, detailed Minister Tellier.

The maximum period within which Wallonia must provide its opinion is 50 days and therefore closes on January 25, 2024 (the consultation request having been received on December 7). The municipalities and the DPA were therefore asked to submit their opinions by January 19, or even January 22. In view of the obligations of the Flemish decree, a longer deadline would lead the Walloon government to position itself outside the deadlines and would risk being legally obsolete, she further clarified. The minister was therefore required to respect the deadlines imposed by Flanders for the implementation of these “essential” consultations, “citizens residing in Walloon Brabant should not be victims of additional nuisance caused by the activities of the airport of Zaventem,” she concluded.