The province of Brabant offers its 'heartfelt apologies' for buying up farms in three other provinces to allow the construction of Logistic Park Moerdijk to go ahead. In a letter of apology to the provinces and agriculture minister Schouten, it says it had no other choice.
The construction plans for Logistic Park Moerdijk have been halted due to nitrogen rules. By May 12, the province must have a solution for the extra nitrogen created by the construction of the business park. It thought it had found that solution in the provinces of Drenthe, North Holland and Zeeland, where it bought up nitrogen rights from farmers - without consultation. The relevant provincial governments and agriculture minister Schouten reacted indignantly. The CDA even spoke of "cowboy behaviour".
On Wednesday, the Brabant provincial government apologised for this course of action. In a letter, it stated that it felt compelled to buy up the farms to meet the deadline set by the Council of State on 12 May.
Moreover, the nitrogen deposition of Logistiek Park Moerdijk concerns the whole of the Netherlands, the board writes. Indeed, shipping is one of the sources causing nitrogen emissions. "The nitrogen deposition cannot therefore be netted only with the deployment of one or a few companies in North Brabant itself. For that, several companies must be deployed at strategically chosen locations spread throughout the Netherlands."
The question remains whether the nitrogen space gained can be used to build the park. On Radio 1, minister Carola Schouten stated that there is no policy yet for this course of action. So for the time being, Brabant cannot do anything with the farms. "This is precisely what we are negotiating with the provinces about," the minister said.
Image: Province of Noord-Brabant Provincial Building Juriaan Wossink / Shutterstock. com
