On Thursday afternoon, the Council of State rejected the request from citizen movement Hart voor Zwijndrecht to suspend the merger of Beveren, Kruibeke and Zwijndrecht. Only the Flemish Parliament now has to pronounce on the merger.
Shortly after the Zwijndrecht municipal council decided, based on a rotating majority, to merge with Beveren and Kruibeke, citizen movement Hart voor Zwijndrecht filed a complaint with the Council of State. She asked to suspend the merger in order to keep Zwijndrecht out of the merger story.
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However, the Council of State decided on Thursday to reject the request for suspension. “The Council is of the opinion that both the joint merger proposal and the proposal regarding the province to which the new municipality will belong are purely preparatory acts that do not have any direct legal consequences,” the judgment reads.
Request for annulment
Last week, the auditor of the Council of State spoke positively about the merger. Because the Council usually follows that advice, this statement was not a big surprise. “Very regrettable,” says Sabrina Van Broeck, spokesperson for Hart voor Zwijndrecht. “We respect the ruling, but we think it is a shame that they do not take into account the impact that this merger will have on residents.”
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“The Council of State still has to consider a request for annulment of the municipal council’s decision to add Zwijndrecht to the merged municipality,” says Van Broeck. “We now have the feeling that as citizens we have nowhere to go with our concerns. We feel completely ignored.”
Last straw
Mayor of Zwijndrecht André Van de Vyver (Green) is also not a fan of the merger. He also finds the ruling of the Council of State not a big surprise, after the hearing officer’s earlier advice, but is still clutching at one last straw. “The merger will be discussed again during the city council on Thursday evening,” says Van de Vyver. “If some council members change their initial vote, we can still stop the merger.”
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The person who does like the merger is the mayor of Beveren, Marc Van de Vijver (CD&V). “This ruling by the Council of State is good news and proves that no procedural errors have been made,” said Van de Vijver. “Although it remains to be seen what the Flemish Parliament will decide on the merger, because the parliamentarians still have to give their approval. We will see that in the coming weeks. That decision will probably be the last step.”
The Kruibeek mayor could not be reached for comment on Thursday evening.
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Tags: Heavy blow citizens movement merger Council State rejects request suspension BeverenWaas
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