Does team GERAARDSBERGEN want to fool the voters?

Vooruit and Groen Geraardsbergen have always spoken clearly when it comes to the Quarter of the Future: it has no place in Geraardsbergen. At every municipal council, every information session and every opportunity, we have expressed our concerns about the arrival of a barracks in the Godsbergkouter or elsewhere in Geraardsbergen. Every time we clashed with the position of Open VLD and CD&V (Geraardsbergen team) that the barracks were important for the future and employment of Geraardsbergen. We heard the exquisite dossier with which Geraardsbergen was put on the map several times through Ann Panis and Fernand Van Trimpont.

“We were very surprised to read that the same Geraardsbergen team (CD&V Geraardsbergen) happily announced that the barracks of the future will not come to the Godsbergkouter!” says Emma Van der Maelen

From the beginning it was clear that there was no support within the population of Geraardsberg for the arrival of a barracks of the future. The many protests and black flags make this clear every day. Is the hot breath of the municipal elections now forcing CD&V to make a 180 degree turn? Or team Geraardsbergen tries to have it both ways, which makes it unclear whether there will be a barracks on Geraardsbergen territory.

“Does this announcement mean that the barracks of the future will simply be located at a different location in Geraardsbergen?” Patrick Franceus wonders. Because Open VLD and CD&V have convinced the federal government to bring this project to Geraardsbergen through their official candidacy. “Vooruit and Groen Geraardsbergen have asked for clarity about that famous alternatives study several times in the past, but never received a clear answer about which areas in Geraardsbergen would still be eligible,” Van der Maelen adds.

High time for clarity, because apparently there is no longer consensus within this majority on this dossier. Can CD&V and team Geraardsbergen make it clear what position they are taking now because their credibility is at stake. In the words of Yves Leterme: “Who still believes those people?”

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