VDL Nedcar wants to expand, partly to become more interesting for new clients. However, this expansion is now being thwarted by a decision by the Council of State: a nearby forest may not yet be flattened.
The province of Limburg and VDL Nedcar are not allowed to cut trees in the Sterrebos next to the car factory for the time being. In an interim ruling on Thursday, the Council of State canceled the intention of the province of Limburg to start deforestation in the short term. The hood is intended to make it possible to expand the car factory with a second production line.
A final decision by the Council of State in this case must first be awaited. As long as that ruling has not been made, no trees may be felled, according to the Council. This prevents opponents of the felling from being presented with fait accomplis in their appeal proceedings at the Council of State. The emergency procedure to prevent rapid felling was initiated by the action group De Groene Sporenwolf, which wants to preserve the flora and fauna of the forest.
Province vs. action group
At the end of last year, the province adopted the ‘Expansion VDL Nedcar’ integration plan. This makes it possible to expand the factory through the felling of 7.74 hectares of forest. In this way, the province wants to avoid having to follow long procedures when expansion is really necessary, for example when new customers report to Nedcar. The integration plan allows the factory to expand in a northerly, easterly and southerly direction and allows for road adjustments.
The action group opposes this. According to the group, this concerns a forest that cannot simply be replanted elsewhere. It took over a hundred years to become what it is today. Protected species can be found in the forest, including the badger, several bat species and the lesser kingfisher butterfly. “A large part of their habitat and foraging area would be permanently lost if these forests are felled,” the Council said.
“Although the preliminary relief judge is aware of the great importance of VDL Nedcar and the Board in being able to start work as soon as possible, the preliminary relief judge is of the opinion that in this case the interest stated by the foundation, which concerns the prevention of irreversible consequences , outweighs the interests of VDL Nedcar and the Commission,” said the Council in its provisional ruling.
Future of VDL Nedcar
It is to be hoped for VDL Nedcar that approval will come soon after all and that the forest will be allowed to make way for the extra production line. The company in Born has found a new client in the American start-up Canoo. It also hopes to attract more parties. In 2023, a large part of the production will disappear. Then BMW Group withdraws. VDL Nedcar now produces the BMW X1 and several Mini models for this purpose.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl