Genk (The Brussels Morning Newspaper): The Mickey Mouse-De Sleutel primary school seeks a new building, however, the Agency for Nature and Forests opposes it. Alderman Toon Vandeurzen plans to appeal to the Council of State.
The Mickey Mouse-De Sleutel primary school in Sledderlo has been using temporary container classrooms because its buildings are in bad shape. The city wants to build a new school nearby that will also have a sports hall for the community to use in the evenings. To do this, they plan to sell some land for the construction. However, the Agency for Nature and Forests (ANB) is worried that building the new school could harm a valuable part of the nearby forest.
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City officials, led by Alderman Toon Vandeurzen from the CD&V party, do not agree with the ANB’s concerns and have decided to appeal to the Council of State to keep the project moving forward. However, the city is still willing to talk with the ANB to find a way to avoid legal delays. During a meeting at the end of August, it was suggested that the city could submit a new application to address the environmental issues raised by the ANB.
According to Alderman Toon Vandeurzen, the reasons the agency gave for stopping the project aren’t good enough, so they will go to the Council of State to fight it. The city council also wants to keep talking to find a quicker solution. They had a meeting at the end of August where they talked about possibly submitting a new application. Vandeurzen is confident that their case at the Council of State can succeed. He mentions that the agency’s reasons aren’t very strong because they say there’s no guarantee the forest will be saved, but the city council’s decision clearly says all the trees will stay.
At the same time, they are putting in a new request. “We might need to make a new file for the city council for this. But we are looking at different options. For example, the primary school has been asking for a new building for a long time.” The Agency for Nature and Forests said they don’t really see why going to the Council of State is needed right now. But they also said their view about the land with the important forest hasn’t changed.
