Neighbourhood committees unite against large building developers

Roughly 40 neighbourhood councils have established a new umbrella committee so they can collectively fight against the city’s development plans.

The Brussels-Capital Region’s Construction Master Plan is a text that establishes a legal framework for the city’s future development projects. A first draft of the text was adopted by the Brussels-Capital Region last May.

But many local neighbourhood committees are against this Construction Master Plan. They’ve now formed a still-to-be-named umbrella platform to fight against the city administration’s development plans.

“As a small neighbourhood committee, you are defenceless against the Region. But by pooling our resources in this way, our conviction is stronger that we have to continue fighting,” said Bart Van Dyck, of the PAD Beton committee in Auderghem.

According to city officials, the Construction Master Plan offers a durable answer to the city’s growing housing shortage. They say it will eventually create 20,000 new housing units across the Region.

But that’s not how PAD Beton and the other committees see it. “The Brussels-Capital Region is caving in to large building projects. The developers are just waiting for the approval of the Construction Master Plan, which will give them even more freedom,” Van Dyck told Bruzz.

Photo: Belga / Ophelie Delarouzee 

Written by Linda A. Thompson