Potential for less public participation on Ministry of Defence expansion plans
Due to global geopolitical tensions such as the war in Ukraine, the Dutch Ministry of Defence aims to substantially expand across the Netherlands. The expansion plans will affect asylum reception sites as well as citizens who will need to relocate.
However, the Ministry of Defence considers the expansion essential, arguing that the armed forces would not otherwise be able to properly perform their constitutional role. The expansion plans cover 1,000 hectares of land and raise many questions. This has resulted in over 2,000 objections from citizens, causing delays in the decision-making process. There have therefore been calls to change the rules and procedures relating to public participation. Silvio Erkens, a Member of Parliament for the VVD party, is arguing in favour of shorter deadlines in complaints procedures, reports Dutch daily newspaper NRC.
During the last parliamentary debate, former state secretary Christophe Van der Maat (VVD) emphasised how the Ministry of Defence and Parliament should take more decisive action. The cabinet is also exploring the Council of State’s capacity to assess objections filed by citizens. The delay in the decision-making process concerning planning procedures is partly caused by ‘too many court cases pending for too long’, as Dr Rogier Kegge, specialist in administrative law and environment and planning law at Leiden University, explains to NRC.
More information
Read the full NRC article (in Dutch, €)
Photo: Vidar Nordli-Mathisen through Unsplash