Belgium’s highest administrative court has struck down a key part of Tervuren’s urban planning policy aimed at protecting the municipality’s rural character and green spaces. The Council of State annulled the policy after Tervuren declined to contest a report from the court’s auditor recommending its cancellation, effectively closing the case without a defense.
The ruling appears to be a major setback for efforts to preserve Tervuren’s countryside identity and curb road-side construction between villages such as Vossem and Duisburg.
At issue were the municipality’s overarching planning principles — known in Dutch as beleidsmatige gewenste ontwikkelingen (BGO), roughly translated as “policy-desired developments” — which help guide what types of projects are encouraged under urban policy. The BGO framework also underpins stricter zoning rules, including a measure increasing the minimum required facade width for new construction plots from 14 meters to 18 meters.
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Supporters, including N-VA and Groen+Vooruit, defended the rules as necessary to safeguard Tervuren’s rural charm. Without these restrictions, they warned, this character could disappear by 2050. The previous, more lenient regulations dated back to before the merger with Duisburg in 1977.
Opposition came from Mayor Thomas Geyns (OpenVLD, Voor Tervuren) and Alderman for Public Works Sebastiaan Coudré (CD&V, Voor Tervuren), who viewed the rules as an infringement on property rights. Coudré, grandson of a fomer Tervuren mayor, voted against the measures last year. He was backed by party member Kristina Eyskens, herself a daughter of a former prime minister.
Coudré stressed the importance of flexible land use for family property transfers. Geyns, a former lawyer, strongly advocates for entrepreneurship and previously highlighted the high legal costs of such regulations.
“There’s no filter at the Court for Permit Disputes. It’s a very cheap procedure for citizens to initiate,” Geyns told councilors earlier this year. Such processes, he added, allow citizens to “harass entrepreneurs indefinitely.”
“This means the municipality wrongly rejected about 250 permit applications that were submitted in the meantime,” Geyns told Het Nieuwsblad. “I think private individuals will start considering how they can recover their money,” the young liberal added.
Attorney Mark Van Roy declined to comment on the substance of the case without first reviewing the auditor’s report. Van Roy served as alderman for spatial planning until 2018.
“I also find it disheartening that the municipality didn’t even consider it necessary to respond to that report,” Van Roy said. “Politically, I don’t understand why a decision that was approved by the previous municipal council with a majority is no longer supported by the current and subsequent mayors and aldermen,” he added.
The annulment of the BGO leaves Tervuren grappling with questions about future planning policy. Looser old rules helped drive population growth from 15,261 in 1970 to 20,181 in 2000, boosting revenues but increasing traffic through the centre’s narrow streets. Today, Tervuren has 23,246 residents, 44% of whom are of non-Belgian origin, compared to 29% in 2000.
Tervuren must now pay €994 in court fees, including €770 in compensation to the plaintiff. With a divided coalition—N-VA supports the rules, while OpenVLD and CD&V oppose them—residents await clarity on future zoning policies.
Author: Dafydd ab Iago. © Article and photos are licensed © 2024 for Tervuren+ under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
