In 1997, the Flemish government definitively approved the Spatial Structure Plan for Flanders. This plan forms the basis of spatial policy in Flanders, which determines which part of the available land is reserved for companies, nature, homes, etc. That plan provided for 600 hectares of additional industrial estates in the Antwerp district. But according to Voka, more than 155 hectares have been lost in the past eleven years.
“This means that every year since 2013, 14 hectares of land in the Antwerp district that was intended as an industrial estate has been given a different destination. This corresponds to a loss of 28 football fields for activity per year,” says Philippe Heyvaert.
In concrete terms, this concerns vacant plots of land that were once intended for the establishment of companies, or former industrial buildings that were vacant and that are now used for something other than industry. “For example, look at the old Bekaert site in Hemiksem,” says Heyvaert. “The Bekaert company stopped its activities there in 2009, and homes and a residential care center are now being built there.”
“Beautiful words are being spoken today about bringing the industry back to Europe and Flanders. But if there are no grounds for this, that promise cannot of course be kept.”
Philippe Heyvaert
Voka Antwerp-Waasland
“The Zwaaikom area in Ranst is another example: that fallow area was intended as an industrial estate, but has been converted into a 25 hectare reservoir for groundwater and nature. (the water is stored there during wet periods, and during dry periods it is used to make drinking water, ed.). We understand that there is a need for this, but then the lost land for industrial estates must be compensated elsewhere.”
Is the need for additional industrial estates so great? “Yes. The business parks in the Antwerp region are among the best-stocked in Flanders. The vacancy rate is historically low,” says Philippe Heyvaert. “In addition, there are hardly any companies that have land in reserve for possible expansion. The lack of available business locations therefore constitutes a serious obstacle to the development of our economy.”
“Beautiful words are being spoken today about bringing the industry back to Europe and Flanders, in order to become less dependent on distant countries. But if there are no grounds for this, that promise cannot of course be kept.”
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Competition
Moreover, according to Heyvaert, the situation threatens to become much worse in the coming years. “We estimate that another 294 football fields will be lost to industrial estates in the Antwerp district in the near future, for example because those areas can also serve as a flood area,” he says. “If this space is not compensated by developing industrial estates in other places, the problem for our companies and that of the entire Antwerp economy will become much greater.”
The question now is to what extent the next Flemish government and the next provincial government will respond to Voka’s call. Competition for the use of scarce land in Flanders is fierce. The agricultural sector has also experienced this. A study by the Institute for Agricultural, Fisheries and Food Research (ILVO) showed at the beginning of this year that almost 40 percent of the agricultural land in the province of Antwerp is not used for agriculture today.
De Keer in Ranst: Voka dreams of an industrial estate in the green area, the action group Red De Keer is fiercely opposed. — © RR
The Times in Ranst
Today there is a lot of commotion about the development of the open area De Keer in Ranst. Voka absolutely wants an industrial park to be built there. But the Red De Keer action group, among others, strongly opposes this and demands that the peace, views and nature be preserved.
READ ALSO. New Year’s Drink De Keer Action Committee: “Delete those two hundred hectares of industrial zone”
The Flemish Agency for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) is now investigating to what extent companies in De Keer want to start a business, and what type of companies they would be. The next Flemish government must decide whether De Keer will actually become an industrial zone or not.
Tags: year football fields disappear industrial estates Antwerp region Voka sounds alarm
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