Public inquiry begins into the future of Josaphat site

Schaerbeek residents and associations are now able to comment on plans for the huge Josaphat brownfield site in a public inquiry until 23 September.

The public inquiry it will include an information meeting attended by its developer, the Société d’Aménagement Urbain (SAU), a model of the project for consultation and a poster campaign.

The 25-hectare plot of land is a former railway site that has since been taken over by nature, stretching across parts of Schaerbeek and Evere, between Avenue Latinis and Avenue Gilisquet on one side and the railway line on the other.

The plan is to build housing, including some public and social accommodation, a school and facilities on part of the site and to keep the vegetation intact on four hectares.

The project, which has attracted a range of reactions, dates from 2014. Led by the Eiffage-AXA consortium, appointed by the region, it only concerns the western, Schaerbeek part of the site. Further development is planned on the other side of the railway line, an industrial zone located in Evere.

The Ecolo and the Mouvement Réformateur (MR) parties oppose construction on the brownfield site, which is a haven for birds, bees, butterflies, and beetles.

Legally, the entire site can be built upon. However, the region and SAU have opted for a compromise – with four hectares preserved to maintain biodiversity.

This case illustrates the tension arising from the need to provide new housing and facilities for current and future residents and the desire to preserve green spaces and the biodiversity they contain.

SAU managing director Gilles Delforge said a compromise has been reached on the site that he said proudly was “extremely well served in terms of public transport. We already have an RER station in operation allowing you to reach Schuman station in less than seven minutes.

“A little over 40% of this brownfield site will be preserved and dedicated to biodiversity. We will have recreational green spaces, we will have housing, we will have a school, we will have a crèche, so it is a mix that seems fairly balanced between divergent functions,” he told RTBF.

However, as the Socialist party in the council supports the project, but MR and Ecolo oppose it, Schaerbeek’s opinion will not be straightforward.

“The positions are not the same,” said MR councillor for urban development Martin de Brabant.

"At this stage, we want to keep residents well informed so that they can make their opinions known with full knowledge of the facts. This is the only way a project of this magnitude can take root in the long term."

Ultimately, at the end of the inquiry, any opinion of residents and the municipality will only be indicative, as the Brussels region has the final say.