Along Kustlaan, the demolition of expropriated houses has started on a site where work will be carried out for the complex New Lock Zeebrugge project. Meanwhile, the public enquiry for the framework project decision is ongoing.
On 6 May, the 60-day public enquiry period on the draft framework project decision of the complex project Nieuwe Sluis Zeebrugge started. Last week, the project team organised three days of information sessions for citizens and companies. The Flemish government counted 170 interested parties. They were informed about the course of the public survey, the final image, the regional implementation plan and the survey results.
For 60 days – until 4 July – anyone can still react to the public study, all documents of which can be found at www.nieuwesluiszeebrugge.be.“Afterwards, all responses will be collected and answered,” reports the project team. “An overview of all reactions, what happened to them and why they were or were not processed will appear in a consideration note after this process. That note will be published on the project website.”
Demolitions
Meanwhile, a contractor on site has started demolishing the first expropriated houses along Coast Avenue in the Station District (see photo). This is possible because the location of the new lock had already been definitively determined earlier. The draft framework project decision now before the public enquiry therefore does not concern the more the location but the arrangement of the infrastructure works.
The end of the public enquiry on the draft framework project decision is expected by early 2025. Once that “environmental permit” is approved, technical development will follow and the work can be put out to tender. In the smoothest scenario, the shovel could be in the ground in 2027 for 10 years of construction of the lock with a tunnel underneath and a new NX west-to-east thoroughfare.
