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minister Kris Peeters
environment |
Flemish absurdities, a license to kill?
Absurdities are plenty in Flanders
On April 25th 2005, Flemish minister
Kris Peeters (1) responsible for the Flemish environment, gave...
Flemish minister Kris Peeters (1)
(the same) responsible for regional airports, an environmental license
for the management of Ostend-Bruges Airport. Does this sound absurd?
It is absurd!
Belgium is a greatly absurd country. Minister K. Peeters is a non elected technocrat,
put in office by the political party CD&V. In a former life he was head of
Flemish organisation UNIZO, a lobby group for small entrepreneurs. He now
holds the two above mentioned offices!
For the people of Ostend living under or near the
runways this means:
-20 year long sleep disturbance, at a freq. of 3 times a night (old cargo planes,
banned at Zaventem, allowed for ten more years!).
-license for 39,000 movements yearly between 06:00 and 23:00 hrs (a plane
every 9 mins above gardens, beaches...)
-a license for 36.000 small planes yearly (flying lawnmowers)
In any normal country Ostend-Bruges Airport,
with residential areas very near or under the runways (275 meters),
would be closed during the night! Rotterdam Airport, Manston Airport,
Sydney Airport, etc... all are closed during the night. Not so in
Belgium.
Three movements each night is
three to many!
Sound Isolation is no solution, it's too costly in relation to the few
movements and brings people in a very bad interior home air
quality. Windows can not be opened! Demolishing houses is even more
absurd.
Keeping an Airport open during the night for only 3 (three)
movements (manning the fire brigade, security, ground and air control)
is very foolish as it's an enormous waste of taxpayers money. A
need for commercial night-flights has never been proved. Minister Peeters,
being an ex student of the Vlerickschool for management, is putting his
own principals aside!
The Flemish Government, and its member minister Peeters,
is also allowing a new residential area being built at 275 meters from the
take-off point of runway 26! This is very absurd! Even more absurd is
that, to solve this new absurdity, the new Ostend residents (all after
2001) won't be taken in account in the yearly calculations of
potential severely hindered people! Safety and risk assessment have also
not been made.
And this brings us to more absurdity..., the fact
that the ministerial decision-making was based on a faulty Environmental
Effect Report (EER) is astonishing. An interior advice by the minister's
own administration talks about severe shortcomings in the EER.
And this brings us to more absurdity..., the fact
that the decennia long heavily subsidized public Airport of Ostend-Bruges distorts fair competition within the EU.
MK airlines, for ex., moved from the private airport of Manston (UK) to
Ostend-Bruges. This in spite of the fact that its cargo is meanly
intended for the British marked. The unnecessary extra transport causes
extra damage to the environment! A inquiry by WILOO at EU commission has
been asked.
More and more people are complaining about kerosene smell
in the vicinity of the airport. Decennia long demands by WILOO for
counter-measures have been ignored (2).
LTO (landing and takeoff) effects and vortex-induced pollution near
runways should not be ignored. Air quality has not been taken seriously by
the government. New EU regulations give WILOO new ammunition.
The ministerial decision jeopardises current costal
economical activity through tourism! All this for potential
transport activities with "low added value".
Giving a license to overfly gardens, camping's, historic sites, beaches
etc.. every 9 minutes is not stimulating durable high quality
tourism. It doesn't help in trying to keep Belgians out of polluting
planes and having them spend more money in the labour-intensive local
tourist sector!
WILOO is not really pleased with all the above
misgovernment. WILOO will (after our next meeting), take further legal
steps and launch an appeal to the Belgian Council of State to correct the
above economical, legal and environmental
absurdities.
ecology?
economy?
Peeters & Peeters |
minister Kris Peeters
regional airports
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